With North Korea’s 4th of July missile show still resonating politically around the globe, another foray from that region—this time from Taiwan—is likely to exacerbate the volatile situation. The Christian Science Monitor reports that Taiwan is gearing up for a September test of a tactical missile that is capable of striking targets in China—a response to China’s growing military might. “Even if we are going to buy Patriot missiles, we also need to develop our own offensive missiles,” legislator Lee Wen-chung tells the paper.
The Pentagon is significantly bolstering airpower near Venezuela, dispatching the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to Latin America, it said in an Oct. 24 statement. The announcement came just hours after U.S. Air Force B-1 bombers and other U.S. assets flew near the Venezuelan coast on Oct. 23.
