China launches drills around Taiwan in angry response to V-P Lai's US trip

SHANGHAI/TAIPEI: China’s military began drills around Taiwan on Saturday, saying it was a “serious warning” to separatist forces in an angry and widely expected response to a visit by Vice President William Lai to the United States, drawing condemnation from Taipei.
Lai, the front-runner to become Taiwan’s president at elections in January, returned from the United States on Friday, where he officially made only stopovers on his way to and from Paraguay, though he gave speeches while in the…