Politics

US aircraft carriers, missile cruisers near Taiwan as Pelosi visits

Washington, Aug 2 (EFE).- The United States Navy has the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group and the USS Tripoli amphibious ship operating near Taiwan, coinciding with the visit of the US House speaker Nancy Pelosi.

A spokeswoman for the US Pacific Fleet told EFE that the group is currently carrying out routine operations in the South China Sea and the Philippine Sea.

That group includes the USS Ronald Reagan, the destroyer USS Higgins, and the guided-missile cruisers USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville, the source said, stressing that it is on a summer patrol deployment.

The spokeswoman added that outside that group is another US Navy vessel, the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli, which is carrying out routine operations in the Philippine Sea.

Pelosi arrived on the island on Tuesday for the first visit by a US House speaker to Taiwan since Republican Newt Gingrich in 1997.

The White House has assured that there is no violation of sovereignty with this visit and that the US does not support the independence of Taiwan nor has it changed its policy.

China has warned of “disastrous consequences” if the US mishandles the situation in Taiwan.

In addition, China’s defense ministry announced a series of targeted military exercises to respond to Pelosi’s visit, the official Global Times reported.

It also reported the Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army would conduct both maritime and air military drills in the north, southwest and southeast of Taiwan, as well as long-range artillery shooting in the Taiwan Strait and conventional missile test firing from Tuesday night.

The foreign affairs ministry said on Tuesday that the China would “take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity in response to the US Speaker’s visit.” EFE

ssa/tw

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