China and Taiwan: A Torrid Backstory

<p>The posturing between the United States and China has been intensifying in recent weeks — China responded with condemnations and military drills after Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, met the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy.</p><p>Today, Edward Wong, who covers foreign policy at The Times, explains why China is so fixated on Taiwan, and how the U.S. got in the middle of it.</p><p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/edward-wong">Edward Wong</a>, a diplomatic correspondent for The New York Times.</p><p>Background reading: </p><ul><li>The Chinese military’s ships, planes and troops<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/10/world/asia/china-military-exercises-taiwan.html?searchResultPosition=1"> held three days of drills</a> in a spectacle designed to warn Taiwan against challenging Beijing.</li><li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/05/us/politics/mccarthy-tsai-taiwan-china.html">U.S. tensions with China were on display</a> as Speaker McCarthy hosted Taiwan’s leader.</li></ul><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily">nytimes.com/thedaily</a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.</p>