China's military sent 18 planes, including fighter jets, over the Taiwan Strait in an unusually large show of force on Monday even as a US envoy was holding closed-door meetings on the self-governing island claimed by Beijing. “Those who play with fire are bound to get burned,” a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, said at a briefing in Beijing, warning the United States and Taiwan against what he called “collusion.”
The Chinese aircraft, including two H-6 strategic bombers, crossed the median line between the mainland and Taiwan in the strait from four different directions, according to officials and news reports from both sides.
Analysts said the Chinese military response was a clear message to the US to stop what it is doing; the Chinese side took similar actions when the US health secretary visited the country in August.
US BANS CHINESE
TIK TOK, WECHATThe Trump administration said on Friday it would ban Chinese-owned mobile apps WeChat and TikTok from US stores as of Sunday, striking a harsh blow against two popular services used by more than 100 million people in the United States. The actions follow an August 6 executive order by President Donald trump, in which he argued that TikTok and WeChat collect data from American users that could be accessed by the Chinese government. The administration has threatened fines of up to $1 million and up to 20 years in prison for violations of the order. TikTok is currently engaged in talks for its take over by the American software maker Oracle; the deal is expected to assuage the administration’s national security concerns. As of Friday morning, the Chinese government had not issued any statements, and it was not immediately clear if China would retaliate. China has long blocked access to such American social media as Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp that it cannot readily monitor or censor.
NEPAL BOOKS SHOW TERRITORIAL CLAIM
Nepal has introduced new text books in the school curriculum that include the country's revised political map showing three strategically important Indian areas as part of its territory. India has already termed as untenable the "artificial enlargement" of the territorial claims by Nepal after its Parliament unanimously approved the new political map of the country featuring Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura areas which India maintains belongs to it. The government in Kathmandu has instructed the Nepal Rastra Bank, the central bank, to mint coins that are embossed with the revised map.
