Taiwan sends forces as China starts ‘punishment’ drills

News Snapshot:

Taiwan's military mobilised its forces and said it was confident it could protect the island, after China started two days of "punishment" drills around Taiwan in what it said was a response to "separatist acts". The exercises, in the Taiwan Strait and around groups of Taiwan-controlled islands that sit next to the Chinese coast, come just three days after Lai Ching-te took office as Taiwan's new president, a man Beijing detests as a "separatist". China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has denounced Mr Lai's inauguration speech, in which he called on China to stop its threats...