China wraps up war games around Taiwan, practicing for an attack as tension with U.S. mounts

Taipei, Taiwan — China said Monday that it had wrapped up several days of military exercises that saw it send dozens of warplanes buzzing through Taiwan’s airspace in a drill that simulated an attack on the democratically governed island just 100 miles off the Chinese mainland. The three-day exercises, using live ammunition, were practice for a complete encirclement of Taiwan by China’s military. The drills were clearly meant to demonstrate China’s ability to cut the island off from the rest of the world, and they were a direct response to Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-went meeting American congressional leaders last week…