HONG KONG/XIANGGANG/, August 2. /TASS/. Two operational aircraft carriers of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army deployed to the sea and may head for the Taiwan Strait in the wake of a potential visit by Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to the island, the Taiwanese newspaper Zhongguo Shibao reported on Tuesday, citing an unnamed military observer.
As the paper said, the aircraft carriers Liaoning and Shandong recently departed from the ports of Qingdao and Sanya. It is unclear yet whether the warships are heading for the Taiwan Strait or will take part in military drills. In any case, this testifies to intensifying military standoff between China and the United States in the region, the paper said.
As the Chinese SCSPI think tank reported on Monday, the US Ronald Reagan carrier strike group is currently based southeast of Taiwan.
As Taiwanese media outlets reported, Pelosi will fly into Taipei on Tuesday evening, heading a delegation of six people representing the US Democratic Party.
Pelosi’s visit may come as the first trip by a US official of this rank to the island in the past 25 years. Beijing has repeatedly warned Washington that the visit to the island, should it take place, will not be left without consequences and China will resort to tough measures.
Washington believes that in the light of Pelosi’s potential trip to Taiwan, Beijing may take steps leading to a crisis, including measures to launch missiles or conduct military maneuvers. As reported from Taipei, the Taiwanese armed forces were put on heightened alert.