U.S Navy deploys four warships east of Taiwan

A man reacts to a headline ‘U.S. Taiwan staring anxiously on U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’ in Beijing Tuesday. Pic/AP

As U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi headed to Taipei on Tuesday amid intensifying warnings from China, four U.S. warships, including an aircraft carrier, were positioned in waters east of the island on "routine" deployments.

The carrier USS Ronald Reagan had transited the South China Sea and was currently in the Philippines Sea, east of Taiwan, a U.S. Navy official confirmed on Tuesday. The Japanese-based Reagan is operating with a guided missile cruiser, USS Antietam, and a destroyer, USS Higgins. "While they are able to respond to any eventuality, these are normal, routine deployments," the official said.

The U.S. Navy official said the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli was also in the area. Pelosi, a long-time China critic, was expected to arrive in Taipei later on Tuesday, people briefed on the matter said, as the United States said it would not be intimidated by Chinese "saber rattling" over the visit.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever