Focus Taiwan
Date: 08/07/2020
By: Flor Wang and Matt Yu

Taipei, Aug. 7 (CNA) Taiwan security analysts on Friday played down the importance of a military exercise to be staged by China in the East China Sea, and ruled out a link between the drills and an upcoming visit by a U.S. official to Taiwan.

Taiwanese media have speculated that the military exercise might be a protest against a visit to Taiwan by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Alex Azar in the coming days.

Azar will be the highest ranking U.S. cabinet official to visit Taiwan in four decades. Beijing sees the visit as Washington disregarding its One China Policy, under which it defines Taiwan and the mainland as a part of one China, and violating the agreements between the two sides.

On Thursday, China's Maritime Safety Administration posted a notice on its website about a three-day, live-fire exercise between 6 a.m. and 12 p.m. from Aug. 11-13 in waters off the Zhoushan Archipelago. Commercial ships are not allowed to pass through the designated area during this period of time.    [FULL  STORY]