Chinese President Xi Jinping says he’ll use force if necessary to make Taiwan part of China again.
What it means: In 1949 two political parties had a huge fight for power on the Chinese mainland. The Communist Party’s forces won. The losing side - the KMT - ran off to a nearby Chinese island - Taiwan - and ruled it like a kingdom. Ever since then, Taiwan has acted like an independent country. China’s never been cool with that, but now it says it’s getting really serious about re-establishing Chinese rule on Taiwan. Most Taiwanese don’t want that.
If China ups its ante from talk to tanks, there’s probs gonna be big problems. For a start, America has long supported Taiwan. And the US and China are the world biggest and most influential economies. Any clash between them would be felt throughout the world.
Read our explainer on borders.
