FOCUS: China's large drills near Taiwan raise Japan, U.S. alert level

China's large-scale military exercises held earlier this month in areas encircling Taiwan in response to a high-profile U.S. visit to the democratic island have demonstrated Beijing's ability to target Japanese and U.S. troops based in the region and raised their alert level.The drills, which included China firing ballistic missiles into Japan's exclusive economic zone, highlighted the need to avoid a major military conflict over Taiwan and boost defense for the Nansei Islands, a chain covering Japan's Okinawa and stretching southwest from Kyushu toward the self-ruled island, military exper…READ FULL ARTICLE