Good morning. Yesterday, the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, flew out of Taiwan on a US air force passenger jet; today, Taiwan’s defence ministry is under cyber-attack and the Chinese military is surrounding the island and conducting live-fire drills.
That’s the bluntest description of Pelosi’s visit – described by China’s foreign minister Wang Yi today as “manic, irresponsible, extremely irrational” – and the escalation in tensions it has brought. (You can follow the very latest on the live blog.)