A major crisis on the verge of escalation?

Tsai said that during the overseas trip, during which she met with McCarthy, the president of the House of Representatives in the USA, and after which she visited Guatemala and Belize, Taiwan's determination to defend freedom and democracy was shown to the world.
The trip angered Beijing, which responded with days of military exercises aimed at showing it could take control of Taiwan by force.
China regards Tsai as a separatist and has rejected her invitations for talks.
For her part, Tsai says she wants peace, but that her government will defend Taiwan if it is attacked.
"Tsai Ing-wen has brought danger to Taiwan. Tsai Ing-wen has almost completely sided with the United States of America in pushing Taiwan into a stormy sea," said Zhu Fenglian, a representative of China's Taiwan Affairs Office.
Zhu said that the exercises around Taiwan are "a serious warning against the agreements and provocations of Taiwan's separatist forces for the independence of foreign powers."
Tsai, who returned to Taiwan a day before the drills began, said the trip was successful in garnering support against the aggressors who threaten the island's freedom.
"With this trip, we again sent a message to the international community that Taiwan is determined to safeguard freedom and democracy, and for that we received recognition and help from our democratic partners," Tsai said at a meeting with Canadian representatives at her office in Taipei.

Chinese forces still in waters around Taiwan

Despite China announcing that the three-day drills ended as planned on Monday, Beijing continued military activities around Taiwan.
Taiwan's Ministry of Defense announced Wednesday morning that it had detected 35 Chinese military aircraft and...