China warns the US not to 'play with fire' as tensions rise over Taiwan conflict

The prospect that one of the most senior politicians in the USA, Nancy Pelosi, is about to fly into Taiwan, has stoked tension with China.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives has long been a vocal critic of the Chinese government. If she visited the island, she would be the most senior US politician to do so since Newt Gingrich in 1997.

But China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province that should ultimately be re-united with the mainland.