China launched a three-day special joint patrol and inspection operation in the central and northern parts of the Taiwan Strait that includes moves to board ships. The move comes amid heightened tensions between China and Taiwan.Taiwan’s President has met with the US House Speaker in a historic meeting in California. Tsai Ing-Wen and Kevin McCarthy’s talks were the first in the United States in decades. The brief visit came despite warnings from China, which doesn’t recognise Taiwan’s independence – and views the island as part of its own territory. It deems any contact between the US and Taiwan as a challenge to its authority.