Ships from the US fleet entered the Taiwan area as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived on the island.
Several American ships were cruising in the Taiwan region on Tuesday as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in the island that Beijing considers one of its provinces, according to American military sources. While China announced that its military would launch “targeted military actions” in response to the visit, the US 7th Fleet tweeted on Tuesday that the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, which has been cruising in the region since early July , was in the Philippine Sea, south of Taiwan.
The US Navy released images of the Ronald Reagan performing maneuvers with the supply ship USS Carl Brashear on Sunday. The aircraft carrier and its airborne group “carry out a routine mission in the western Pacific,” said an American official who requested anonymity.
In addition, an amphibious ship from the Marine Corps, the USS Tripoli, was sailing east of Taiwan at the same time, according to the United States Naval Institute (USNI), an independent body close to the US Navy. The Ronald Reagan and the Tripoli are both carriers of the latest generation F-35 fighter jets, according to the USNI.
The Pentagon assured that the presence of these two ships in the region was not linked to the visit of Ms. Pelosi, the highest American official to visit the island since her predecessor Newt Gingrich in 1997. “We obviously take all the necessary measures to ensure the safety of elected members of Congress, wherever they choose to go and when” they travel, a spokesman for the United States Department of Defense said on Tuesday.