A man uses a magnifying glass to read a newspaper headline reporting on US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Asia visit, at a stand in Beijing, Sunday, July 31, 2022. Pelosi, confirmed Sunday she will visit four Asian countries this week but made no mention of a possible stop in Taiwan that has fueled tension with Beijing, which claims the island democracy as its own territory | Photo credits: Andy Wong/AP/Sipa
by Yimou Lee
TAIPEI, Aug 2 (Reuters) – Several Chinese fighter jets flew near the Taiwan Strait demarcation line on Tuesday morning, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters, as the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives , Nancy Pelosi, was expected during the day in Taipei.
China, which considers Taiwan as a renegade province and does not rule out the use of force to bring it back into its fold, has repeatedly warned against a visit by Nancy Pelosi to the democratic island, according to it. fuel tensions in the region.
Beijing sent several planes to fly over near the sensitive Taiwan Strait demarcation line, a source said, as several Chinese warships had already been in the area since Monday.
This source described as “very provocative” the movements of the Chinese aircraft.
No comment could be immediately obtained from the Taiwanese Ministry of Defence.
Taipei “enhanced” its military alert level Tuesday morning until noon Thursday, the official Taiwanese news agency reported, citing unidentified sources.
Nancy Pelosi and her delegation may arrive in Taiwan early on Wednesday, when most of the US representative’s meetings are scheduled for that day – including a meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen – a person briefed said. of the Pelosi route.
“Everything is uncertain,” added this source.
(Report Yimou Lee; French version Jean Terzian)