US carrier strike group returns to the South China Sea amid Taiwan tensions.
Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi caused yet another tension between Taiwan and China after her potential visit to Taiwan.
The news comes less than a day after a report emerged about the Pentagon’s preparations to protect Speaker Nancy Pelosi with fighter jets and ships if she were to visit Taiwan.
Pelosi was scheduled to travel to the island in April. However, the trip was postponed after she tested positive for COVID-19.
According to the people familiar with the matter, Pelosi is tentatively set to visit the island in August.
Meanwhile, China warned this week of a possible military response if Pelosi’s trip took place.
With this, the USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group has been redeployed in the disputed region.
Officials with the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet confirmed the deployment of the USS Ronald Reagan to the vital trade route but did not comment on questions about tensions over the trip by Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives.
“USS Ronald Reagan and her strike group are underway, operating in the South China Sea following a successful port visit to Singapore,” Commander Hayley Sims said in a statement to Reuters.
Sims added that the Reagan “is continuing normal, scheduled operations as part of her routine patrol in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
More details of this report from The Daily Caller:
The return to these operations follows a five-day visit to Singapore, which was described as “hard-earned time off” for the crew by Capt. Fred Goldhammer of the USS Ronald Reagan said in a press release.
Anonymous sources within the U.S. government have said that The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China may declare a no-fly zone over Taiwan should the Speaker visit. The Speaker extended an invitation to select members of the House to join her proposed trip.
Dr. Ian Storey, a Singapore-based security fellow at the Yusof Ishak Institute, claimed that Chinese vessels would likely shadow the group during its operations in the South China Sea, according to Reuters.
“Most of the time those interactions are safe and professional,” Storey said, “but there’s always a risk.”
China will not allow Pelosi’s TW visit to be conducted smoothly, and PLA will definitely make further plan in response to US military’s escort. There’ll be unprecedented crisis over the Taiwan Strait. Possibility of a military conflict caused by misjudgment is increasing greatly. https://t.co/qCQEddLlR0
— Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) July 27, 2022
Meanwhile, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has stated repeatedly that China must reunify with Taiwan, which it considers a breakaway province.
While Pelosi’s Taiwan trip has not been confirmed, she is scheduled to visit Japan, Indonesia, and Singapore
Sources: TheDailyCaller, Reuters
