The Pentagon is reportedly developing plans for any contingency that could arise if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) goes through with her intention to travel to Taiwan.
The military would increase its movement of forces and assets into the region, while fighter jets, ships, surveillance assets, and other equipment would provide additional rings of protection during the trip, officials told the Associated Press.
Pelosi would be the highest-ranking official to travel to Taiwan since 1997 when then-Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) traveled to the island nation of roughly 24 million people.
“I remain concerned,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters on Wednesday. “I mean, you’ve heard me say this before about the aggressiveness of the PRC and in the kinds of things that we’ve been seeing in the region lately.”
Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said conversations about specific travel arrangements are premature, though he explained, “If there’s a decision made that Speaker Pelosi or anyone else is going to travel and they asked for military support, we will do what is necessary to ensure a safe conduct of their visit. And I’ll just leave it at that.”
China has intensified its threats toward the United States in an attempt to deter a possible visit from Pelosi.
“The U.S. … must not arrange for Pelosi to visit the Taiwan region,” Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Senior Col. Tan Kefei said Tuesday. “Should the U.S. side insist on doing otherwise, the Chinese military will never sit idl[y] by and will certainly take strong and resolute measures to thwart any interference by external forces and secessionist attempts for ‘Taiwan independence’ and firmly defend China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Shortly thereafter, John Kirby, the White House National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, said, “That kind of rhetoric is unnecessary and uncalled for. … And there’s no trip to speak to, and rhetoric of that kind only escalates tensions. … So we find that unhelpful and, certainly, not in the least necessary, given the situation.”
President Joe Biden said last week the U.S. military has concerns about her trip, though that hasn’t changed her plans.
The threats regarding Pelosi’s possible travel, which is set to occur next month, are examples of China’s increased aggression.
“The message is the Chinese military, in the air and at sea, have become significantly more and noticeably more aggressive in this particular region,” Milley said over the weekend during his trip to the Indo-Pacific region.
Ely Ratner, the assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, reiterated that sentiment on Tuesday at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event, saying that “in recent months,” the U.S. has “witnessed a sharp increase in unsafe and unprofessional behaviors by [the Chinese] ships and aircraft.”
