SpaceWar.com reports: “China on Wednesday blamed ‘external’ forces and ‘separatists’ for stoking instability in the Taiwan Strait, without confirming it is carrying out military drills around the self-ruled island.

Taipei has accused Beijing of conducting its biggest maritime drills in years.

Dozens of Chinese ships have simulated attacking foreign vessels and disrupting sea routes around the self-ruled island, according to security officials in Taiwan.

Plans for the massive exercises began in October and were aimed at showing that China could choke off Taiwan and to ‘draw a red line’ ahead of the next Donald Trump administration, a senior national security official told AFP…”