SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — Officials in the United States said they have little concern that China will target Nancy Pelosi’s plane if she goes to Taiwan. However, the US House Speaker would be entering one of the world’s most dangerous areas, where a blunder, misstep, or misunderstanding might jeopardise her safety. As a result, the Pentagon is preparing for every eventuality.
According to officials, if Pelosi visits Taiwan, which remains a possibility, the military would increase its mobility of personnel and assets in the Indo-Pacific region. They declined to detail, but stated that fighter jets, ships, surveillance assets, and other military equipment would almost certainly be used to form overlapping bands of security for her trip to Taiwan and whatever time she spent on the island.
Any international journey by a prominent US leader necessitates extra protection. However, authorities warned this week that Pelosi’s journey to Taiwan — she would be the highest-ranking US elected official to visit Taiwan since 1997 — would go above and beyond the standard safety preparations for trips to less perilous countries.
China views self-ruling Taiwan to be its own territory and has threatened to seize it militarily. Even though it acknowledges Beijing as China’s government, the United States maintains informal connections and defence ties with Taiwan.
The trip is being explored at a time when China has expanded what the United States and its Pacific allies characterise as perilous one-on-one confrontations with other forces in order to emphasise its expansive territorial claims. Close fly-bys that compel other pilots to swerve to avoid crashes, as well as harassment or obstruction of air and maritime crews, including with blinding lasers or water cannon, have been reported.
Dozens of similar operations have happened this year alone, according to Ely Ratner, US assistant defence secretary, speaking Tuesday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ South China Sea symposium. China disputes the allegations.
The authorities from the United States, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive security problems, explained the necessity for buffer zones surrounding the speaker and her plane. The United States already has sizable soldiers distributed over the region, so any additional security could be handled primarily by assets already in place.
The military would also need to be ready for any catastrophe, whether a mishap in the air or on the ground. They stated that the United States would require close rescue capabilities, which might include helicopters aboard ships currently in the vicinity.
Pelosi, a Democrat from California, has not officially announced any fresh plans for a trip to Taiwan. She was supposed to attend in April, but she cancelled after testing positive for COVID-19.
The White House declined to comment directly on the topic on Monday, noting that she had not confirmed the travel. However, President Joe Biden expressed reservations about her travel last week, telling reporters that the military believes it is “not a smart idea right now.”
A Pelosi visit may overshadow a phone call between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping set for Thursday, their first in four months. An unnamed US official confirmed the call’s aims to The Associated Press ahead of the public revelation.
According to US sources, the administration is sceptical that China will take direct action against Pelosi or try to derail the visit. However, they do not rule out the prospect of China increasing aggressive overflights of military aircraft in or near Taiwanese airspace and naval patrols in the Taiwan Strait if the trip occurs. They also do not rule out Chinese measures elsewhere in the area as a show of might.
Security experts disagreed Tuesday on the scope of any threat during the trip and the necessity for additional military security.
The greatest danger during Pelosi’s trip, according to Mark Cozad, acting assistant director of the Rand Corporation’s International Security and Defense Policy Center, is a Chinese show of force “gone wrong, or some form of calamity that results from a demonstration of forceful action.” “Perhaps there was an aviation accident; it might have been a missile test, and anything can go wrong when you’re doing stuff like that.”
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