Posted BY: Billy | NwoReport
A furious China today warned that the United States will ‘pay the price’ if the House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visits Taiwan, as tensions between Beijing and Washington soar.
Beijing’s warning came as the U.S. air force jet that flew Pelosi to Malaysia left the capital of Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday morning, according to flight-tracking website Flightradar24 and witnesses.
Pelosi and her delegation are due to arrive in Taipei at 10.20 pm (14.20 GMT) on Tuesday after visiting Malaysia, sources told Taiwan newspaper Liberty Times.
In response to the visit, Beijing’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Tuesday: ‘The US side will bear the responsibility and pay the price for undermining China’s sovereign security interests.’
Moscow also weighed in and accused the US of ‘destabilizing’ the world by allowing Pelosi to visit Taiwan.
Amid the intensifying warnings from China over Pelosi’s visit, four U.S. warships, including the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, were positioned in waters east of Taiwan on ‘routine’ deployments.
The carrier USS Ronald Reagan had transited the South China Sea and was currently in the Philippines Sea, east of Taiwan and the Philippines and south of Japan, a U.S. Navy official confirmed on Tuesday. The Japanese-based Reagan is operating with a guided missile cruiser, USS Antietam, and a destroyer, USS Higgins.
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‘While they are able to respond to any eventuality, these are normal, routine deployments,’ the official said, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The official added that they were unable to comment on precise locations.
The U.S. Navy official said the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli was also in the area as part of a deployment to the region that started in early May from its home port of San Diego.
Amid looming fears that Beijing could attack Taiwan, Taipei has vowed to defend itself and dispatch its military forces in reaction to ‘enemy threats’.
Taiwan has also made strengthening its defenses a priority, with regular military and civil defense drills – including designating air-raid shelters where civilians can take cover if Beijing launches missiles at the democratic island.
