live from washington. this is bbc news, welcome to viewers on pbs in america. an historic meeting, taiwanese president tsai ing—wen meets with house speaker kevin mccarthy amid rising tensions with china. meanwhile, emmanuel macron and the eu chief ursula von der leyen are in beijing, and will meet the chinese president on thursday. we'rejoined by susan thornton, former us acting assistant secretary of state, to look at the big picture on a very busy day of diplomacy. hello, i'm sumi somaskanda. we begin tonight in california where speaker kevin mccarthy

has become the most senior elected official to meet a taiwanese president on us soil in decades. here's taiwanese persident tsai ing—wen meeting mccarthy and a group of bipartisan lawmakers near los angeles earlier today, despite objections from china. mccarthy stressed the need to speed up arms deliveries to taiwan. china — which has long considered taiwan as part of its country — denounced the meeting, accusing the us of seeking taiwanese independence. it comes on the heels of other high profile summits, including then—speaker of the house nancy pelosi's trip to taiwan last year. speaking after the meeting, mccarthy responded to warnings from china of escalating tensions. my my first message to china, there is no need for retaliation but the one thing they would say to china too, i am the speaker of the house. there is no place that china is going to tell me where ray can going to tell me where ray can go or who are can speak to whether you be faux or whether you be friend. the california visit is not the first stop

on president tsai's trip. last week, she flew to new york where she met with three us senators. tsai then made her way to central america for official visits to guatemala and belize, two of taiwan's few allies on the world stage. and on her way back, her last stop was today's meeting with mccarthy outside los angeles. it's her seventh such trip as president to the us in as many years. earlier in the day, president tsai thanked congress for standing by taiwan, but sounded the alarm on the threats to the island. it is no secret that today, the peace that we have maintained and the democracy that we have worked hard to build are facing challenges. we once again find ourselves in a world where democracy is under threat. mccarthy says lawmakers had a productive discussion with president tsai. earlier, we spoke with one of the congressmen who was in the room for those conversations, democratic representative seth moulton of masschusettes who serves

on the house select committee on strategic competition with china. congressmen, thank you very much forjoining us. what was discussed with president tsai in these meetings? we discussed our important _ in these meetings? we discussed our important partnership - our important partnership between our nations stopping notjust between our nations stopping not just our curative partnership but our economic partnership but our economic partnership and the opportunities to improve that. we talked about a wide range of issues. there is obviously a very real concern about china invading taiwan and so we talked about military deterrence but we also talked a lot about economic competition, trade issues and trade opportunities and we talked about our allies in the region. if we talk about the threat of a chinese attack on taiwan did president tsai specifically asked for assurances? ida. president tsai specifically asked for assurances? no, she didn't ask _ asked for assurances? no, she didn't ask for _ asked for assurances? no, she didn't ask for any _ asked for assurances? no, she didn't ask for any change - asked for assurances? no, she didn't ask for any change in a l didn't ask for any change in a long—standing policy but she did ask that we accelerate

deliveries of weapon systems and other things that we are working to provide. our goal here is peace and we are sitting at the reagan library, we understand that you achieve peace through strength. we want to make it clear that invading taiwan is a bad idea and there is going to be a united alliance that will oppose that. the west has stood together to oppose vladimir putin's invasion of ukraine. so that was the president of taiwan in the us. at the same time, another high—level summit is set to take place, this time in china, between chinese and european leaders. french president emmanuel macron and eu commission president ursula von der leyen will meet thursday with china's president xijinping. they'll press beijing to play a bigger role in ending the war in ukraine. the french president says china could use its close ties with russia to help stop the conflict. translation: china has proposed

a peace plan and we have - welcomed it, but do we agree with it in its entirety? no, but it is interesting. it shows willingness to commit to resolving the conflict. and so, if it is not a peace plan, it is a desire to have responsibility to try to build a path towards peace, and i hope to be able to participate in initiatives that are useful to the ukrainian population. live now to mariko oi. good to see you. how receptive is china to taking a bigger role in pushing russia to end the war? china has always said that it is neutral when it comes to the war in ukraine and it has refused to condemn russia's aggression at the united nations and it has now proposed that 12 point peace plan but many of our viewers may remember president xi jinping's

trip to moscow to meet with president putin and partly because of the timing of japan's by minister's trip to ukraine on the same day those two pictures became somewhat of a stark contrast as to how the two biggest economies here in asia are responding to the conflict in ukraine. president xijinping has been invited by president zelensky to visit ukraine and he is also supposed to have a phone conversation with him as well but based on experts�* analysis that phone call hasn�*t taken place yet so many experts will be watching how president xi may respond to france and europe�*s request to use its influence to bring peace in ukraine but i don�*t think many are expect thing a breakthrough there. i think many are expect thing a breakthrough there.— think many are expect thing a breakthrough there. i also want to ask you _ breakthrough there. i also want to ask you about _ breakthrough there. i also want to ask you about the _ breakthrough there. i also want to ask you about the other - breakthrough there. i also want to ask you about the other big i to ask you about the other big meeting we are following today, the taiwanese president on us soil. we know that china has vowed countermeasures, tell us about the response? 50 vowed countermeasures, tell us about the response?— about the response? so far, the maritime safety _ about the response? so far, the maritime safety authority - about the response? so far, the maritime safety authority in - maritime safety authority in the south—eastern chinese province has launched a three

day specialjoint province has launched a three day special joint operation province has launched a three day specialjoint operation in the central and northern parts of the taiwan strait, so one can assume that this is one of china�*s response to heightened tensions because of that meeting that you were just talking about between tsai ing—wen and kevin mccarthy. beijing has warned against such a meeting before so it is not a huge surprise that it is responding this way and of course it could very angrily when nancy pelosi visited taiwan as well because of course china considers the island as a breakaway province while some taiwanese people want a separate nation and xi jinping has repeatedly vowed to fulfil reunification with taiwan and beijing has not ruled out the possible use of force to achieve unification, so that meeting between tsai ing—wen and mr mccarthy definitely not going down too well with beijing.— well with bei'ing. mariko oi reporting _ well with beijing. mariko oi reporting there _ well with beijing. mariko oi reporting there for- well with beijing. mariko oi reporting there for us - well with beijing. mariko oi reporting there for us from | reporting there for us from singapore, thank you very much. let�*s speak about alll of this

with susan thornton, former us acting assistant secretary of state. it is good to have you with us. it is good to have you with us. i want to start with the taiwanese president�*s visit to the us. what you think that both sides were able to away from this meeting?— both sides were able to away from this meeting? first i want to make the — from this meeting? first i want to make the point _ from this meeting? first i want to make the point that - from this meeting? first i want to make the point that this - from this meeting? first i want to make the point that this is i to make the point that this is the president of taiwan transiting the united states on her way to a stop in central america, so we see taiwan authorities make these transit stops frequently, president coutu has been here a number of times. of course it is meant to show support for the united states by taiwan and every time there is a transit like this there is a transit like this there are activities, there were activities in york last week and now we have the meetings today in california with officials from the us congress. typically on this transit recently the president does meet with congress members but of course the meeting with

the speaker is a big event. it is much better though that i think she meets him here in california than that he travelled to taiwan. certainly speaker pelosi�*s visit to taiwan in august i think was seen pretty widely even in taiwan as not necessarily contributing to making taiwan more secure and so i think having the meeting in the us is a much better option. but having the meeting in the us is a much better option.— a much better option. but at the same — a much better option. but at the same time _ a much better option. but at the same time we _ a much better option. but at the same time we are - a much better option. but at| the same time we are seeing this very strong response from china, why? i this very strong response from china, why?— china, why? i don't think the resnonse _ china, why? i don't think the resnonse to _ china, why? i don't think the response to this _ china, why? i don't think the response to this meeting - china, why? i don't think the response to this meeting is i response to this meeting is going to be as strong as the one we saw in august and i would be surprised, so a patrol in the taiwan strait is not the same thing as what we saw in august, metals shooting. we will have to wait and see what the response is but i think that beijing probably does understand that this was a balancing act and that the decision so farfor balancing act and that the decision so far for kevin mccarthy to meet tsai ing—wen

here in the us is better than him travelling there. up because he hasn�*t ruled out travelling there so he may have that response in the future but for now i would expect that it is recognised in beijing, if not publicly acknowledged, that this is a better outcome than what might have been. fin this is a better outcome than what might have been. on the ossible what might have been. on the possible responses, _ what might have been. on the possible responses, we - what might have been. on the possible responses, we are i possible responses, we are seeing the taiwan defence minister saying that there is a chinese aircraft carrier currently 200 nautical miles of taiwan�*s east coast, so that could be possibly one of the responses we are seeing from china, and president biden has said time and again that he has not interested in using taiwan as a weapon but is the us actually trying to change the status quo on taiwan as we see this series of meetings? i do think that — this series of meetings? i do think that the _ this series of meetings? i do think that the chinese - this series of meetings? i it think that the chinese have to be worried that they�*ve seen two meetings with the speaker of the house in less than a year and that this is going to become a new precedent. they see it as a meeting with the

third—highest official in the us government, which they would claim as a violation of us commitment to maintaining unofficial relations with taiwan. of course we have frequently had meetings with economic officials and technical officials but they see this as a signal of political physiology which they certainly are going to be very worried about. i do think that there is a little bit too much discussion as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff mark milley said, little bit too much discussion about military responses and military deterrence and everything being about showing that we are strong to keep the peace. we also have to balance that with making sure that we are signalling to beijing that we are not moving in a direction of support for taiwan independence which would be a real redline for them. let independence which would be a real redline for them.— real redline for them. let me ask ou real redline for them. let me ask you about _ real redline for them. let me ask you about those - ask you about those conversations because beijing right now doesn�*t appear to be taking calls from the white

house or pentagon, we know that they have seen china as an existential threat, they have seen china as an existentialthreat, is they have seen china as an existential threat, is there anyone talking to each other in beijing and washington? i think that is a real _ beijing and washington? i think that is a real cause _ beijing and washington? i think that is a real cause for- that is a real cause for concern, you mentioned the diplomacy that the french president has undertaken, within a number of european leaders travelling to beijing recently. we haven�*t seen very much communication between the us leadership and the chinese leadership and i think that is a cause for concern. {eek leadership and i think that is a cause for concern. ok susan, stay there — a cause for concern. ok susan, stay there because _ a cause for concern. ok susan, stay there because we - a cause for concern. ok susan, stay there because we are - a cause for concern. ok susan, l stay there because we are going to ask you about another story we have been following, the detention of us journalist in russia. antony blinken has been speaking about this very issue today, let�*s hearfrom him. in today, let's hear from him. in evans' today, let's hearfrom him. in evans' case we are working evans�* case we are working through the determination on wrongful detention and there is a process to do that and it is something we are working through very deliberately, but expeditiously as well. and i

will let that process play out. in my own mind, there is no doubt that he is being wrongfully detained, by russia, which is exactly what is it to foreign minister laffer of when i spoke to him over the weekend and insisted that evan be released immediately. susan, this has got — released immediately. susan, this has got to _ released immediately. susan, this has got to be _ released immediately. susan, this has got to be the - released immediately. susan, this has got to be the first - released immediately. susan, this has got to be the first us| this has got to be the first us journalist held in russia since the cold war. can you tell us what might be happening behind the scenes right now between moscow and washington to secure the safe release of evan? eta�*dfli the safe release of evan? evan is actually _ the safe release of evan? evan is actually a — the safe release of evan? evan is actually a graduate - the safe release of evan? evan is actually a graduate of - the safe release of evan? evan is actually a graduate of my . is actually a graduate of my alma materjust down the street here so we�*ve been on the horn quite a bit in the days since his detention and very concerned obviously. i think it is a good thing that he has been brought back to moscow. you heard tony blank in antony

blinken being very careful there, to couch his phrasing such that he doesn�*t trip any wires with the russians and make things more difficult to try to negotiate evan�*s release, i think. try to negotiate evan�*s release, ithink. it�*s try to negotiate evan�*s release, i think. it�*s going to be very difficult to expedite the russian process, as we saw with previous wrongful detention situations like that of britney greiner, so i would expect that this would take some time and unfortunately, they are going to be negotiating i�*m sure to try to get him out with the russians but it is not going to be easy in the current circumstances. are you worried that we are starting to see the new era of hostage diplomacy?— starting to see the new era of hostage diplomacy? we've seen this with the — hostage diplomacy? we've seen this with the russians, - hostage diplomacy? we've seen this with the russians, i - this with the russians, i worked in russia and we were always working on getting people out so this unfortunately isn�*t that new. certainly the relationship has deteriorated to the point that

it makes it much, much harder to fix these situations, but i would say this is a continuation of a status quo that we have already seen. susan thornton, very good to have your insights, thanks so much. there are people both young and old who simply don�*t know the people of colour fought and died alongside their british counterparts in both world wars. b. counterparts in both world wars. �* . counterparts in both world wars. ~ ., . ., ., ., wars. a large crowd gathered to remember _ wars. a large crowd gathered to remember a _ wars. a large crowd gathered to remember a generation - wars. a large crowd gathered to remember a generation who - remember a generation who crossed oceans to help during world war ii.— crossed oceans to help during world war ii. nothing short of a disgrace _ world war ii. nothing short of a disgrace that _ world war ii. nothing short of a disgrace that the _ world war ii. nothing short of a disgrace that the service - world war ii. nothing short of a disgrace that the service of. a disgrace that the service of these brave men who came all these brave men who came all these thousands of miles from these thousands of miles from the caribbean to help this country in its hour of need is being pretty much erased from

the history books. this being pretty much erased from the history books.— the history books. this man came over _ the history books. this man came over from _ the history books. this man came over from the - the history books. this man l came over from the caribbean the history books. this man - came over from the caribbean to train in the raf. he wanted a memorialfor them train in the raf. he wanted a memorial for them thousands of others who volunteered to serve. . others who volunteered to serve-_ i - others who volunteered to l serve._ i wanted others who volunteered to - serve._ i wanted to serve. the landing. i wanted to help peeple- — serve. the landing. i wanted to help peeple- i'm _ serve. the landing. i wanted to help people. i'm so proud - serve. the landing. i wanted to help people. i'm so proud of i help people. i'm so proud of them, — help people. i'm so proud of them, of— help people. i'm so proud of them, of course i'm proud. to see _ them, of course i'm proud. to see my— them, of course i'm proud. to see my comrades, you know? some of this— see my comrades, you know? some of this is— see my comrades, you know? some of this is obvious. you�*re live with bbc news. jesus to warsaw now, where ukraine�*s president, volodymyr zelensky, and first lady, olena zelenska, have just concluded a state visit to neighboring poland, their first foreign visit together since russia�*s invasion began. mr zelensky�*s polish counterpart, andres duda, says he is sending forteen additionalfighterjets to ukraine, and promised to push his fellow nato leaders to extend �*security guarantees�* to ukraine. the leaders capped off the visit with a rally in warsaw�* central square. the bbc�*s mark easton

was there. here in the royal castle in warsaw, _ here in the royal castle in warsaw, many have gathered to hear _ warsaw, many have gathered to hear president zielinski who is 'ust hear president zielinski who is just giving his speech, they are watching on large screens. zele ns kyy. zelenskyy. not just zelenskyy. notjust polish people, lots of ukrainians. some saying they wouldn�*t see such an historic event. this is a combination of president zelenskyy�*s visit, there is being a lot of talk about continued and increased military assistance to ukraine from poland, talk about sending more fighterjets to kyiv. but this part, the public part, is a chance for president zelenskyy to come to the polish capital and tell poles of his appreciation. in fabry last year, russia invaded poland. it affected notjust their homes but it�*s heart. ukrainian

refugees fleeing the fighting. hundreds of thousands of polish families opened their homes to the refugees and some of them are still hosting. president zelenskyy now is talking to the polish public and thanking them. fortheir polish public and thanking them. for their humanity. a defiant donald trump has told his supporters that the us is going to hell after becoming the first former american president to face criminal charges. mr trump pleaded not guilty to sa counts of falsifying business records yesterday. the case relates to an alleged hush money payment to a former adult film star, stormy daniels. here�*s our north america editor sarah smith. trump supporters lined the streets to welcome him back to florida, and you can see he�*s clearly loving it after what must have felt like a humiliating courtroom ordeal in new york. the former president used a prime—time speech from his mar—a—lago residence

to attack a prosecutor who has charged him with 3a felony crimes. 0k drive safe and i never thought anything like this could happen in america. never thought it could happen. the only crime that i have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it. cheering. donald trump looked much less combative when he appeared in court earlier. but now that his lawyers have seen the detailed charges, they are more confident mr trump can win this case. this is not a game. you�*re charging the president of the united states with crimes, crimes that will never be sustained in a court of law because they don�*t exist. donald trump believes this prosecution could help his election prospects. he is now centre stage again, and his party, including his rivals, support his claim that he�*s being targeted unfairly for political reasons. we are a nation in decline,

and now these radical left lunatics want to interfere with our elections by using law enforcement. we can�*t let that happen. things have certainly calmed down outside manhattan�*s criminal court today, and donald trump will not be back here again before december, when the next hearing is scheduled. but remember, he is facing several other legal investigations over the january the 6th riots, over declassified documents found at his home in florida, and over alleged election interference in the state of georgia. next year, donald trump may be having to defend himself in several different legal cases at the same time is running his third presidential election campaign. sarah smith, bbc news, new york. in other news: former us vice president mike pence will not appeal a judge�*s ruling, requiring him to testify over the january 6th attack on the us capitol.

it sets up a possible appearance by pence infront of a federal grand jury in the coming weeks — one of several investigations into former president trump. the governor of the us state of missouri says it could take months to rebuild from a deadly tornado that tore through the states�*s south—east on wednesday. five people were killed in the incident. in brazil, at least four children have been killed by a man wielding a hatchet in a kindergarten in the south of the country. another four children were injured. police in the city of blumenau say the attacker has turned himself in to authorities. thousands of people have been protesting across argentina against spending cuts imposed by the international monetary fund under a new debt repayment deal. disruption was reported in 135 cities. the imf has eased economic targets in its latest deal to lend argentina slut billion but critics say the agreement is setting the country up for more economic failure.

let�*s turn our attention online. police forces in 17 countries have taken part in a major operation to dismantle one of the biggest online criminal marketplaces. in the us — it was called operation cookie monster. genesis market is thought to have sold personal information that was stolen from more than two million people to fraudsters — enabling them to impersonate the victims without raising any suspicion. come to the door! police! come to the door! a dawn raid in grimsby at the home of a suspected fraudster. the start of an international operation against alleged hackers who steal from online bank accounts and shopping sites. here, officers from the national crime agency and the police arrested a man in his 30s on suspicion of fraud and computer misuse — one of 2a people arrested in the uk. the target of the raids was the genesis market website,

a one—stop shop for hackers who could log in and buy stolen passwords for bank accounts, paypal accounts and accounts for services like amazon, uber and netflix. what was particularly dangerous about the data being sold on the genesis market website was that it wasn�*t just log—in details. the hackers could purchase all of what�*s known as your digital fingerprints, your browser information, your ip address and your physical location, so that when the hackers logged in to a bank account or shopping website, it really did look as if they were the original user. hackers trying to use genesis market today didn�*t get the usual login page. rather, they got this message from the fbi saying the website had been seized as part of operation cookie monster — a reference to the fact that one of the things that genesis market was selling was computer cookies to help hackers impersonate genuine users. for too long, criminals have stolen credentials

from innocent members of the public. we now want criminals to be afraid that we have their credentials, and they should be. and people today are getting a knock on their door, very early in the morning. the national crime agency advised members of the public that, to avoid fraud, they should always take software updates on their phones and computers, they should use strong passwords and, where possible, use two—factor authentication. that�*s when a text message with a one use password is sent as part of the login process. daniel sandford, bbc news, at the national crime agency. to afghanistan now, where the united nations says it�*s been told by the taliban government that local female staff will be stopped from working for the organisation across the country. the un said the taliban had informed them verbally but there had not yet been written communication of the move. the un has told its afghan staff — men and women — not to report to work for 48 hours, until it has clarity on the matter. cindy mccain is the head of the un�*s world food programme. she spoke to my colleague

lucy hockings about the issue. oui’ our top priority today is with found out is of course are afghan women. tats found out is of course are afghan women.— found out is of course are afghan women. found out is of course are afthan women. a ~ ., ., afghan women. as you know, are aft han afghan women. as you know, are afghan women — afghan women. as you know, are afghan women were _ afghan women. as you know, are afghan women were workers - afghan women. as you know, are afghan women were workers who j afghan women were workers who through un agencies who now the taliban has said they cannot work for the un anymore so what this does to w wp in particular is it does not enable us to do a job as well as we could because women are the back bone of what we do. we have 9600 women worldwide. we can�*t operate without them in the taliban is going to make sure they can�*t work. stay with us here on bbc news. we followed the french president�*s state visit to china and will bring you live pictures from beijing assig at for his meeting with chinese president xijinping later. that story and much more for you and do download our app for an update on all the latest

stories. stay with us on hello there. the easter weekend just around the corner, a heads—up for what to expect coming shortly, but first of all, let�*s take a look at wednesday�*s weather. best of the sunshine was certainly across eastern england. yes, it clouded over into the afternoon, but most of us had skies like this — fairly grey with outbreaks of rain at times. now, that rain is pushing its way east and it will clear over the next few hours and allow this ridge of high pressure to build and quieten things down. so, first thing thursday, it�*s a rather grey, damp, dreary start across the east, but it�*s a mild one with the cloud around, temperatures holding up above freezing, so that early rain will ease away. mist and fog patches lift to sunny spells and scattered showers into the afternoon.

maybe some of those showers filtering down through the cheshire gap could be quite heavy, maybe with the odd rumble of thunder mixed in there as well. so, by the middle part of the afternoon, it�*s sunny spells and scattered showers. maybe some of those showers filtering down highs of 11—14 degrees, slightly drier, brighter skies into northern ireland and western scotland as that ridge of high pressure takes over. but there will be some showers across the northeast of england and eastern scotland here, highs of 9—12 celsius. so, by the end of thursday, the high pressure is building and quieting things down quite nicely. a spell of really wet weather for a time, moving away through east anglia and southeast england. but under those clearer skies out to the west, once again, those temperatures fall away low enough for a touch of frost to form first thing on friday morning. but good friday is going to be a reasonable day — dry, settled and sunny. these weather fronts trying to push in from the atlantic, but they will take most of the easter weekend before they arrive. so, on the whole, we could just

see a little more in the way of cloud just pushing in off north sea coasts, unfortunately for eastern england. but most of us dry with some sunshine coming through and light winds. it�*ll be pleasant enough — highs of 10—14 celsius. similar story as we go into saturday, but there�*s a greater chance of seeing more cloud developing from the north sea with that easterly flow. there�*s our weather front, trying desperately hard to push in from the atlantic. it takes its time to do so, perhaps not arriving until sunday, with more significant rain for some of us by easter monday. take care.

china condemns the meeting between taiwanese president tsai ing—wen and kevin mccarthy in california. we sit down with the head of sri lanka airlines is the state carrier looks to privatise to ease the burden on colombo. there hello and welcome to asia business report. i�*m karishma vaswani. our top story this morning, china has about a resolute response following a high level meeting between the taiwanese president tsai ing—wen and the us house speaker kevin mccarthy

in california,