Hello and welcome to the Intelligence on Economist Radio. I'm your host, Jason Palmer.

Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

SARS-CoV-2 won't be the last bug to make the jump from animals to humans.

The danger is, in fact, only growing.

We look into what it is that's making these zoonotic diseases more likely,

and what might be done to better the odds.

And it's tempting to think that dogs would speak their minds to their minders if they could.

Some people have even tried to make it possible, setting up buttons for dogs to push, each one linked to a word.

We ask whether that button pawing counts as language.

But first...

When a Chinese spy plane attempted to fly undetected beneath Taiwan's radar systems last week,

it was just the latest worrisome incursion.

Warplanes from the mainland have repeatedly circled the island in recent months, adding

to growing fears that China may one day attempt to seize Taiwan by force.

Leaders in Beijing say there's only one China, and that Taiwan, an island of 24 million

people, 100 miles off its coast, is just a rebellious part of it.

The Taiwanese used to agree that their island was part of China, albeit not a communist part,

but they have taken to electing governments that stress its separateness.

In a sign of ramping tensions, earlier this month, Taiwan's foreign

minister Joseph Wu, said the island would defend itself to the very last day.

We are willing to defend ourselves and it's without any question. And we will fight the war

if we need to fight the war. But the war is unlikely to involve only the island and the mainland.

...