As Taiwan Welcomes New Leader, China Flexes Muscles

Taiwan scrambled jets and put missile, naval, and land units on alert Thursday over Chinese military exercises being conducted around the self-governing island democracy, where a new president took office this week. China’s military said its two-day exercises around Taiwan were punishment for separatist forces seeking independence, per the AP . Beijing claims the island is part of China’s national territory, and the People’s Liberation Army sends navy ships and warplanes into the Taiwan Strait and other areas around the island almost daily to wear down Taiwan’s defenses and seek to intimidate its people, who firmly back their de facto…