China Says it Conducted Military Exercise around Taiwan to Warn US

Chinese and US flags flutter outside the building of an American company in Beijing, China January 21, 2021. (Reuters)
Chinese and US flags flutter outside the building of an American company in Beijing, China January 21, 2021. (Reuters)
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China Says it Conducted Military Exercise around Taiwan to Warn US

Chinese and US flags flutter outside the building of an American company in Beijing, China January 21, 2021. (Reuters)
Chinese and US flags flutter outside the building of an American company in Beijing, China January 21, 2021. (Reuters)

China's military said on Wednesday it recently conducted an exercise around Taiwan as a "solemn warning" against its "collusion" with the United States, Chinese state media reported.

US President Joe Biden angered China on Monday by appearing to signal a change in a US policy of "strategic ambiguity" on Taiwan by saying the United States would get involved militarily if China were to attack the island.

But he said on Tuesday there was no change to US policy.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theater Command said it had recently carried out a patrol and drill in the airspace and sea around Taiwan.

"This is a solemn warning against recent collusion between the United States and Taiwan," said spokesman for the command, Shi Yi said, according to state television.

"It is hypocritical and futile for the United States to say one thing and do another on the Taiwan issue," he said.

China has never renounced the use of force to bring democratically ruled Taiwan under its control, and the Taiwan Strait remains a potential military flashpoint.

While the United States abides by a "one China" policy, recognizing only Beijing, it has made a commitment under its Taiwan Relations Act "to help provide Taiwan the means to defend itself".

Despite that, it has long held a policy of not specifying how it might react in the event of a Chinese attack on the island.



7 Dead, Dozens Injured after Commercial Bus Overturns in Mississippi

A tractor trailer dangles from a bridge on Interstate 75 near Tampa, Fla., early Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Florida Highway Patrol via AP)
A tractor trailer dangles from a bridge on Interstate 75 near Tampa, Fla., early Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Florida Highway Patrol via AP)
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7 Dead, Dozens Injured after Commercial Bus Overturns in Mississippi

A tractor trailer dangles from a bridge on Interstate 75 near Tampa, Fla., early Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Florida Highway Patrol via AP)
A tractor trailer dangles from a bridge on Interstate 75 near Tampa, Fla., early Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Florida Highway Patrol via AP)

Seven people, including a six-year-old and 16-year-old, were killed when a bus overturned east of Vicksburg, Mississippi, early Saturday, Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey said.
The two young victims were siblings, Reuters quoted the coroner as saying.
The Mississippi Highway Patrol said the incident took place around 12:40 a.m. on Interstate 20 near Bovina in Warren County when a 2018 Volvo commercial passenger bus traveling westbound left the roadway and overturned.
Thirty-seven passengers were transported to different hospitals with unknown injuries, the agency said. It said the co-driver was not transported.
"Anytime you have people injured or killed, it's tragic but when you have a situation like this where you have multiple fatalities and multiple injuries, it makes it even worse," Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace told an ABC affiliate.
Huskey said most of the passengers on the bus were Latin American.