Military drills drum home China's relentless message in the Taiwan Strait
CNN
China's military exercises around Taiwan this week aim to send a pointed message to governments in Taipei, Tokyo and Washington that Beijing alone calls the shots in the Taiwan Strait, analysts say.
Experts also suggest the announcement of the drills shortly after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taipei on Tuesday was no snap reaction to her controversial visit -- rather, the exercises are part of a relentless, years-long plan to bring Taiwan under Beijing's control.
Pelosi's trip to the island -- a democracy of 24 million that the Chinese Communist Party regards as its territory despite having never controlled it -- has merely thrust the issue of Taiwan into news headlines, analysts said.
Senate Democrats have confirmed some of President Joe Biden’s picks for the federal bench this week in the face of President-elect Donald Trump’s calls for a total GOP blockade of judicial nominations – in part because several Republicans involved with the Trump transition process have been missing votes.
Donald Trump is considering a right-wing media personality and people who have served on his US Secret Service detail to run the agency that has been plagued by its failure to preempt two alleged assassination attempts on Trump this summer, sources familiar with the president-elect’s thinking tell CNN.