This year’s military exercises, unprecedented in length and scale, are designed to prepare people for the prospect of Chinese troops storming Taiwan’s shores.

This year’s drills are ten days, twice as long as before. The timing is no accident. Tensions with Beijing remain high. While polls suggest most Taiwanese don’t believe an invasion is imminent, the government is preparing with focus and urgency.

The U.S. Navy’s Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group entered the South China Sea on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Chinese reconnaissance flights as Taiwan conducts annual counter-invasion drills. USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70),

Manila’s significant shift could pave the way for the Philippines, an American treaty ally, to play a bigger role in regional defense if China invades Taiwan.

Another targeted financial analysts at major unnamed investment firms focused on the Taiwanese semiconductor industry by posing as a fictitious investment firm and seeking collaboration. Two of the entities are based in Asia, while the third is based in the U.S. The FBI declined to comment.

Scarborough Shoal is located within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone and is nearly 700 miles from China.

HARBIN -- After traveling thousands of kilometers from Taiwan island, violinist Lee Tien-hsuan has spent six years in Harbin, Northeast China, an area designated as a "Music City" by the United Nations. During this time, he has become a proud member of the string section of the Harbin Symphony Orchestra.