our asia—pacific editor michael bristow reports.ht, when most residents were at home and in bed. it started on the lower floors, which once housed busy restaurants, karaoke bars and a cinema — businesses that had long since closed down, leaving much of the place derelict. it was known as kaohsiung's number one ghost building. the flames spread to the upper stories, where most people were living. many of them were old or disabled. most died from smoke inhalation. some residents, though, did manage to escape. translation: there were loud bangs everywhere - on the ground floor. i barely managed to escape. translation: | came down . because i heard some screams. i thought it was somebody quarreling, but it turned out to be a fire. the rescue was hampered by piles of unused items in the empty lower floors which blocked doorways and exits, even though the building is supposed to have had four fire checks in the last two years. these details and taiwan's sometimes patchy safety record will no doubt be scrutinised in the investigation into

my colleague michael bristow covered the story.nnamed us officials are confirming that us special forces are in taiwan because it wants to remind beijing, at a time of heightened tension over taiwan, that the united states does still stand behind taiwan and will help it defend itself. china's response to american support of taiwan would not be clearer. translation: the taiwan question is purely china's internal affair. - we will not tolerate any outside interference. as you can hear, taiwan finds itself between the tectonic plates of world power. china's economic military and economic might is on the move and america and its allies are trying to manage that — even contain it. the americans make no secret of this. the director of the cia this year described the most important geopolitical threat we face in the 21st—century as "an increasingly adversarial chinese government," and people in taiwan well understand the position they're in. translation: we are a small island i nation so we're like a bargaining . chip in negotiations betw

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