China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, on a visit to Egypt, warns that any steps towards Taiwan's independence would be "harshly punished", after the self-ruled island chose pro-sovereignty candidate Lai Ching-te as president. China's top diplomat also calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state and a ceasefire in Gaza, where 100 days of the Israel-Hamas war have killed thousands. In a press conference with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry in Cairo, the top Chinese diplomat said "it is necessary to insist on the establishment of an independent, fully sovereign state of Palestine on the 1967 borders, with east Jerusalem as its capital." IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES