On Tuesday, amid Chinese anger over the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island, four US warships, including an aircraft carrier, were deployed in waters east of Taiwan in what the US Navy calls a routine deployment.
The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan has passed through the South China Sea and is now in the Philippine Sea, east of Taiwan and the Philippines, and south of Japan, a US Navy official told Reuters.
Japan-based Reagan is working with a guided missile cruiser USS Antietam and a destroyer, USS Higgins.
“While they can respond to any eventuality, these are normal, routine deployments,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
He said he would not comment on the exact locations of the ships.
The amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli is also in the area, the official said.
Pelosi, a longtime China critic, was due to arrive in Taipei late Tuesday, said those familiar with the matter, saying the US would not be intimidated by warnings against China’s visit.
Signs of military activity appeared on both sides of the Taiwan Strait ahead of Pelosi’s visit.
A source told Reuters that Chinese planes flew near the middle line separating the waterway on Tuesday morning, with a large number of Chinese warships remaining close to the unofficial border line since Monday.
China’s defense and foreign ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The source said the Chinese planes had repeatedly made tactical moves and that Taiwanese planes, while on alert nearby, briefly “tapped” the center line and circled behind the strait, which was described as provocative.
source: Noticias
[author_name]
