Taiwan denounced China on Thursday over large-scale air and naval drills off its southwestern coast, calling them a serious provocation and a threat to international air traffic. China, which claims democratic Taiwan as its own, has stepped up military exercises near the island, in what Taipei views as intimidation to force it to accept Chinese rule. Yeh Kuo-hui, from Taiwan’s Defence Ministry’s operations and planning department, told a hastily arranged news conference that China’s intentions could not be predicted.
