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From Our Own Correspondent: Taiwan's feisty spirit

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Woman holds a "No China" sign at a Taiwanese march in the streets outside the parliament in Taipei

21/12/2019 GMT

Taiwan's feisty spirit

BBC World Service - From Our Own Correspondent, Taiwan's feisty spirit

What does Taipei make of Beijing's approach to this year's unrest in Hong Kong?

What does Taipei make of Beijing's approach unrest in Hong Kong? Plus stories from the Cayman Islands' coral reefs, the ice shelves of Antarctica and France's truffle grounds

2019'se unrest in Hong Kong has exposed just how unhappy some people are with how "one country, two systems" has worked out there. But what do the people of Taiwan, another Chinese-speaking territory with a fraught relationship with the People's Republic of China, make of it all? Duncan Hewitt lived on the mainland for two decades and recently visited Taiwan to cover its upcoming presidential election, He found a place fizzing with innovative ideas and a new spirit of diversity, but still beset with doubts about Beijing's true motives. 

Rebecca Kesby introduces this and other dispatches from reporters and writers around the world. 

In the Cayman Islands they'll also be voting in 2020 - but in this case, in a referendum to decide whether to go ahead with a radical remodelling of the main port, George Town. The idea is to make it more efficient and pleasant for the huge number of visitors who arrive on cruise boats - but some local politicians and ecologists fiercely oppose the plan, saying it will drown some unique coral reefs in concrete. Vivienne Nunis took a look at the arguments for and against the idea. 

From the warm waters of the Caribbean to the freezing depths of the Southern Ocean - and the ice that may soon melt into them: Justin Rowlatt is journeying to Antarctica with a group of scientists hoping to find out what's really happening to the vast ice sheets of the continent, including the huge Thwaites glacier. He reveals some of the rigorous preparation necessary before making the journey so far south. 

And Heidi Fuller Love goes hunting for treasure beneath the surface of the rich loamy earth of the Perigord region of France. She's in good company: her companion on a cold. damp walk among the oak trees is a prize pig called Magda, with a proven talent for finding valuable (and delicious) black truffles.

Image: Woman holds a "No China" sign at a Taiwanese march in the streets outside the parliament in Taipei. Credit: Sam Yea/AFP via Getty Images)

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