Posted BY: Billy | NwoReport
U.S. officials today said they fear that China could attack Nancy Pelosi's plane if she flies to Taiwan as Beijing doubled down on their threat to take 'firm and strong measures' if the House speaker visits the island.
Those fears have meant that if Pelosi does travel to Taiwan, which is still an uncertainty, the U.S. military would increase its movement of forces and assets in the Indo-Pacific region, officials said.
The officials declined to provide details of their plans, but said that fighter jets, ships, surveillance assets and other military systems would likely be used to provide overlapping rings of protection for her flight to Taiwan and any time on the ground there.
The US military is also reportedly considering deploying a multi-domain task force that would utilize missile, electronic and cyber capabilities in an integrated manner in Asia, according to the Japanese news outlet Nikkei News.
Any foreign travel by a senior U.S. leader requires additional security. But officials said this week that a visit to Taiwan by Pelosi - who would be the highest-ranking U.S. elected official to visit the island since 1997 - would go beyond the usual safety precautions for trips to less risky destinations.
It comes as China warned today that Washington would 'bear the consequences' if Pelosi visits Taiwan - days after threatening to take 'resolute and forceful measures' against the US if the trip goes ahead.
'If the US pushes ahead and challenges China's bottom line... the US side will bear all the consequences arising therefrom,' Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular press conference.
Self-governed Taiwan's 23 million people live under the constant threat of invasion by authoritarian China, which views the island as its territory and has vowed to one day seize it, by force if necessary.
Amid the soaring tensions between the US and China, President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping are expected to talk on Thursday in what will be the fifth call between the leaders.
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