SpaceWar.com reports: “China has expanded military drills around Taiwan aimed at drawing ‘a red line’ for the next US president, Taipei authorities said on Wednesday, branding Beijing a ‘troublemaker’.

Beijing’s biggest maritime drills in years involve about 60 warships and 30 coast guard vessels deployed from near the southern islands of Japan to the South China Sea, a senior national security official told AFP on the condition of anonymity.

China has also ramped up military aircraft activity closer to Taiwan, with 100 sorties detected over the past two days, according to figures from the island’s defence ministry.

There has been no announcement by Beijing’s army or Chinese state media about increased military activity in the East China Sea, Taiwan Strait, South China Sea or Western Pacific Ocean…”