News Snapshot:
TAIPEI (AFP) - Planned Chinese live-fire military drills encircling Taiwan threaten the island's key ports and urban areas, Taipei's defence ministry said on Wednesday (Aug 3), vowing "strengthened" defences and a resolute response as cross-strait tensions soar. Island authorities pilloried Beijing's bellicose military posture just hours after China flew 21 military planes into Taiwan's air defence zone. China's leaders have expressed fury at the visit of US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, painting it as a provocation that threatens the fragile cross-strait status quo. In response, China has announced a series of live-fire military exercises around Taiwan,...
