welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. a potential visit to taiwan by the us house speaker, nancy pelosi, is stirring alarm in presidentjoe biden s administration. officials are concerned the trip may cross red lines for china and fears there s no potential exit path. beijing, which claims sovereignty over the island, has already issued harsh warnings, even suggesting a possible military response. against this backdrop, president biden is expected to call president xi on thursday, for the first time in months. gareth barlow reports. this is taiwan. to beijing it is the breakaway province that must become part of the country, if need be by force. to washington it is of the territory of the us has pledged to defend, if it ever comes under attack. an island nation of 23 million, at the centre of a struggle between two global superpowers and it is a potential visit to taiwan by nancy pelosi, second in light of the us presidency, we will be the host ranking
welcome to bbc news. a potential visit to taiwan by the us house speaker nancy pelosi is stirring alarm in presidentjoe biden s administration. officials fear the trip may cross red lines for china, and that there s no exit path. beijing, which claims sovereignty over the island, has already issued harsh warnings even suggesting a possible military response. against this backdrop, president biden is expected to call president xi on thursday for the first time in months. well earlier i spoke to oriana skylar mastro who s a center fellow at stanford university s freeman spogli institute for international studies. i began by asking whether she thought us house speaker nancy pelosi was right to plan a visit to taiwan. my my personal view is these types of political manoeuvring is whether it is nancy pelosi going to taiwan or president biden saying that the united states is definitely going to defend taiwan only exacerbates tensions and doesn t help the united states with the fu
strategy, undersecretary state blanket and under the national security adviser but also under president biden has been fairly straight and forth right now. i think this is some free ranging by speaker pelosi. doesn t have a reputational impact in the united states? of course it does. but beneath the surface, as we all know, the administration is desperately trying to stop talk speaker pelosi out of it. as a friend and partner of the united states but now heading a think tank, i would also urge speaker pelosi simply to postpone the visit, send some other congressional representatives at this stage. they are so many tender boxes at the world of the moment. why unnecessarily add an additional tinderbox when we ve got so much else we are wrestling with?- else we are wrestling with? kevin, thank yom the us secretary of state, antony blinken, says the us has offered a substantial deal to russia, aimed at freeing american detainees brittney griner and paul whelan. mr blinken sa
this is where i felt the safest. live from our studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it s newsday. a new coordination centre has begun work in turkey part of a complex deal to restart blockaded grain exports from ukraine. it s an effort to ease a global food crisis that is affecting millions around the world. more than 20 million tonnes of grain is waiting at ukrainian docks. the aim is to export five million tonnes a month, matching pre war levels. richard galpin reports. from the start of the war back in february, russian forces has been blockading ukraine s black sea ports preventing exports of ukrainian wheat and other grains vital for the food supply of many countries around the world. according to officials, there are around 20 million tonnes of grain in ukraine. with fears growing of global food shortages, it seems there may now have been a breakthrough with a deal agreed by the two sides. it is hoped it will be possible for ships to be inspected near turkey and t