TAIPEI: China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using Taiwan President Lai Ching-te's upcoming National Day speech as a pretext to pressure the island to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials say. China in May launched "punishment" drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai's inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to "separatist acts", sending up heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced the newly inaugurated Lai. The