being homosexual was something you had to hide, says mota. but things have changed now. we re out in the open and the government has accepted and recognised us. for couples like this, the stakes couldn t be higher. sitti says if china wants taiwan, it will have to invade. and if that happens, people like them will have no choice but to leave. rupert wingfield hayes, bbc news, in taipei. with all the sport now, here s lizzie greenwood hughes at the bbc sport centre. thanks, good evening. max verstappen sealed a second successive formula one title with four races left after winning a dramatic japanese grand prix in terrible weather conditions. but once again, his championship winning moment was marred by confusion over the rules as olly foster reports. lex verstappen has retained his world title fair and square, and
and they re not about to give that up. taiwan is justifiably proud of its democracy. there is nothing like this anywhere else in the chinese speaking world. but it s notjust taiwan s democracy that is threatened by xijinping. it s all of the rights and freedoms that people enjoy here, their whole way of life. at their home in the south of taipei, mota and sitti are playing with their two year old daughter. in 2019, taiwan became the first country in asia to legalise same sex marriage. sitti is now expecting baby number two. being homosexual was something you had to hide, says mota. but things have changed now. we re out in the open and the government has accepted and recognised us. for couples like this, the stakes couldn t be higher. sitti says if china wants taiwan, it will have to invade. and if that happens, people like them will have no choice but to leave.
the huge fish thrashing around in su gou zhen s ponds are called grouper. on the tables of beijing and shanghai, each one can fetch up to 2,000 us dollars. 80% of taiwan s grouper used to go to china. now it s zero. beijing s import bans are hitting taiwan where it hurts the most. so, is it working? olderfishermen like me are nervous, he says, but the younger generation, they re not worried. they think, fine, if china doesn t want to buy our fish, we ll sell to other markets all over the world. china isn tjust threatening taiwan s economy. since august, it s made repeated threats to take the island by force, test firing dozens of missiles across the taiwan strait. but if taiwan people are scared, they re not showing much sign of it. it s election season here, and at nightly rallies, candidates are on stage
about the progress they are making in driving by russian forces. monday is national day in taiwan when despite recent threats and intimidation from china the island will celebrate its democratic political system and open society. it comes as recent opinion polls suggest a greater number of people than ever now identify as taiwanese and want the country to remain separate from china. in response, beijing is not just threatening war it s waging an economic conflict and recently banned the import of some 2,000 taiwanese products. 0ur correspondent rupert wingfield hayes sent this report from taiwan. it may not look like it, but these ponds in southern taiwan are filled with gold. the huge fish thrashing around in su gou zhen s ponds are called grouper.
came to the taiwanese coast. in the background, those are the mountains of central taiwan. china has also announced a long list of retaliation against america, including personal sanctions on nancy pelosi. but in taipei, foreign minister joseph wu told me he has no regrets about inviting the us house speaker to visit the island. the taiwanese government, especially the ministry of foreign affairs, has been working very hard in expanding taiwan s international space, making friends with important international leaders or trying to connect more with like minded partners around the world, like speaker pelosi. to have an opportunity to visit taiwan is very significant, to allow the international community to understand that taiwan is a democracy. it s notjust taiwan s democracy that is threatened by china. it s a big chunk of the world s economy. one hour drive south of taipei, these are the huge fab plants