US warships sail close to Taiwan as Pelosi visits; China will conduct live-fire army drills close to the Taiwan Strait

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A US army plane with US Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi on board prepares to land at Songshan Airport in Taipei on August 2, 2022. – Pelosi landed in Taiwan on the night of August 2, defying days of an particularly stark warning from China that has fueled rising tensions between the world’s two superpowers. (Photograph by Sam Yeh / AFP)

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A number of US warships had been crusing in waters close to Taiwan on Tuesday, US army officers mentioned, amid Chinese language anger over Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s controversial go to to the island. Beijing claims it as its territory.

As China introduced it might conduct live-fire army drills within the Taiwan Strait in response to Pelosi’s go to, the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet mentioned the nuclear-powered plane service Ronald Reagan was working within the Philippine Sea, south of Taiwan. .

The US Navy revealed images of the usually Japan-based Ronald Reagan conducting maneuvers with the cargo ship USS Carl Brashear on Sunday.

The Ronald Reagan was escorted by the USS Higgins, a destroyer that’s a part of its strike group, a US Navy official mentioned on situation of anonymity.

The plane service and its group “are on a routine operation within the Western Pacific,” a US official mentioned on situation of anonymity.

USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), USS Higgins (DDG 76), and USS Antietam (CG 54), all a part of Provider Strike Group 5, performed an archipelagic sea lane passage by the San Bernardino Strait this weekend.#Readiness #FreeandOpenIndoPacific #Lethality #PresenceMatters pic.twitter.com/IiFCuGkIa2

— US Pacific Fleet (@USPacificFleet) August 1, 2022

As well as, the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli is working east of Taiwan, the US Navy official mentioned, confirming experiences from the US Naval Institute (USNI), an expert affiliation with shut ties to the Navy. .

The Ronald Reagan and the Tripoli are each carriers of the newest era of F-35 fighter jets, in response to the USNI.

See these images of flight deck operations aboard the amphibious assault service USS Tripoli (LHA 7), July 30, 2022. #USNavy #US7thFleet pic.twitter.com/RTMAlc08cI

— seventh Fleet (@US7thFleet) August 1, 2022

US officers sought to reassure Beijing that the positioning of those two ships within the area was unrelated to the go to by Pelosi, who turned the best elected US official to go to the island since predecessor Newt Gingrich traveled there in 1997.

Nationwide Safety Council spokesman John Kirby advised CNN that Washington will make sure that Pelosi has a “secure and safe go to.”