The diplomatic tension between the United States (U.S.) and China heightened as Speaker of the United States House, Nancy Pelosi, defied China’s early warning and visited Taiwan on Tuesday. The U.S. followed up actions by deploying warships to territorial waters near Taiwan after China had on Tuesday morning warned that the U.S. will pay dearly for the visit of Speaker Pelosi to Taiwan which China said is its territory.
US Navy Seventh Fleet disclosed that the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan had commenced military exercise in the Philippine Sea, south Taiwan.
Pre-empting China, the US Navy on Sunday published images of the routine Japan-based Ronald Reagan on military drill in conjunction with the cargo ship USS Carl Brashear.
A US Navy official revealed that the Ronald Reagan sailed with the USS Higgins, a destroyer that is part of its strike group.
The US official added that the aircraft carrier and its group are “on a routine operation in the Western Pacific.”
The U.S. Official further said that the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli was deployed to the east of Taiwan.
The U.S. Naval Institute (USNI) identified the Ronald Reagan and the Tripoli as carriers of the latest generation F-35 fighter jets.
China had threatened to conduct live-fire military drills in the Taiwan Strait if Pelosi visited Taiwan on Tuesday.
US officials had tried to assure China that the deployment of the two ships in the territorial waters of Japan and Taiwan was not related to the visit of Speaker Pelosi to Taiwan, the highest-ranking US official to visit Taiwan since predecessor Newt Gingrich visited in 1997.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, was said to have assured that the U.S. would ensure Pelosi had a “safe and secure visit” to Taiwan on Tuesday.