US President Donald Trump's plan to speak with Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te has sparked concerns that China may react badly, potentially leading to increased tensions around the island.
China views Taiwan as its most sensitive issue, concerning Chinese sovereignty and territorial integrity, and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under its control.
Beijing has launched major war games around Taiwan in the past, including in 2022 after a visit by then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and has held several other rounds of war games in reaction to US engagements with Taiwan.
Taiwan, on the other hand, is a thriving democracy that strongly rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims and has a right to engage with the rest of the world and choose its own leaders.
The US has a complex relationship with Taiwan, having severed official ties with Taipei in 1979 but is bound by the Taiwan Relations Act to provide the island with the means to defend itself.
