PLA and Chinese coastguard approach Taiwan by sea and air in move linked by state media to ‘separatist’ National Day speech

Chinese military and coastguard personnel have surrounded Taiwan’s main island as part of large-scale drills that it said were a warning against “separatist acts”, in the wake of a recent speech by Taiwan’s president.

State media linked Monday’s drills to a National Day speech last Thursday by Taiwan’s president, Lai Ching-te, in which he repeated that the People’s Republic of China “has no right to represent Taiwan”, but he was willing to work with it to maintain peace and stability.