WEB DESK
US has reportedly deployed four warships east of Taiwan as House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi heads to Taipei amid warnings from China. US warships, including an aircraft carrier, were positioned in waters east of the island.
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 US Navy official confirmed to a news agency.
The Japanese-based Reagan is operating with a guided missile cruiser, USS Antietam, and a destroyer, USS Higgins. The official said enigmatically, that these are normal, routine deployments, but they are able to respond to any eventuality.
The US 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.
Some regional military analysts say that increased deployments at a time of tension raise the risk of accidents, even if no side wants an actual conflict.
In the meantime ,an agency report said Chinese planes flew close to the median line dividing Taiwan Strait this morning and several Chinese warships had remained close to the unofficial dividing line since Monday ,while Taiwanese aircraft were on standby nearby . Neither side’s aircraft normally cross the median line The Japanese Defence Forces said Chinese warships also carried out drills to simulate attacks on carrier-borne aircraft in waters east of Taiwan. The ships had been tracked sailing through Japan’s southern islands at the weekend.