China launched military drills around Taiwan on Saturday as a “stern warning” after voicing anger over a stopover in the United States by the island’s vice president, William Lai.
Lai, who is the frontrunner in Taiwan’s presidential election next year, stopped in New York and returned via San Francisco on a trip to Paraguay, one of a dwindling number of nations that diplomatically recognise Taipei.
China on Saturday called Lai a “troublemaker” and vowed to take “resolute measures… to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
