President Lai Ching-te of Taiwan said he would be happy to speak with President Trump, a move that would defy U.S. diplomatic protocol and infuriate China.

The president said a potential arms deal for Taiwan was a “very good negotiating chip” in talks with Beijing. His words raise questions about the reliability of U.S. support.

The engagement between the president and the Chinese leader may have tested a decades-old U.S. assurance to Taiwan not to consult Beijing on the topic.

From satellite phone check-ins to a borrowed royal plane, new details show how Taiwan’s leader’s team outwitted China and pulled off an audacious journey to southern Africa.

There are few issues in diplomacy more complicated than the status of the self-governing island, which China claims as its own. It is almost certain to come up when President Trump meets China’s leader.

Beijing has called Taiwan the “core of China’s core interests.” Xi Jinping is likely to focus on getting President Trump to slow approval of more weapons for the self-governing island.

Xi Jinping spent 13 years building a military to rival that of the United States. But the stronger the Chinese forces grew, the less he trusted the generals he had handpicked to run them.

With time running out, Taiwanese lawmakers approved funds for buying U.S. weapons, fearing they could lose support if they didn’t act now.

China’s top diplomat also warned against the restarting of hostilities as he met with Iran’s foreign minister. The U.S. has urged China to pressure Iran to reopen the waterway.

Gen. Wei Fenghe and Gen. Li Shangfu are likely to spend the rest of their lives in prison after receiving suspended death sentences.

Dozens more were injured in the explosion, which appeared to be one of the country’s deadliest in recent years.