China conducts drills near Taiwan after increasing 'provocations' of US Military

China's military has deployed warships and fighter jets on assault drills near the south of Taiwan in response to the "provocations" of heightened US military presence and of US ties with the island, which China calls "collusion." China's People's Liberation Army's (PLA) Eastern Theater Command conducted "joint live-fire drills involving forces of multiple services including naval warships, anti-submarine aircraft and fighter jets" around the southeast and southwest of the island of Taiwan. Citing the reasons for the drills, senior army colonel for the Chinese armed forces, Shi Yi, explained that the exercises were to test the troops' capability and to…