The Taiwanese Army raises its alert status before Pelosi’s possible trip to the island

Aug. 2 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Taiwanese Army has raised its alert status in the face of the possibility that the president of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, pays a visit to the island and the warnings by China against such a displacement.

Sources quoted by the Taiwanese state news agency, CNA, have indicated that the Army has increased its combat readiness, a decision that will stand until Thursday and that could be adjusted depending on the actions that Beijing takes in the coming hours.

However, he has clarified that the decision does not imply that the troops are currently in an “emergency” situation, without Washington having clarified whether Pelosi, who is on a tour of East Asia, will finally make a stop on the island. .

The spokesman for the National Security Council of the White House, John Kirby, has defended in recent hours that Pelosi “has the right” to travel to Taiwan if she so decides and has added that the Administration is not going to take action on the matter. “Our responsibility is to make sure that she and her team have all the information they need,” he stressed.

The visit, which would be the first by a House speaker in 25 years, is not on Pelosi’s agenda or public itinerary. However, Taiwanese sources indicate that he could spend a night on the island, although the exact date for it is unknown.

For their part, the Chinese authorities announced on Friday the holding of a military drill around Taiwan, days after the spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Defense, Tan Kefei, warned that the Chinese Army will not stand idly by in the face of Pelosi’s possible visit to Taiwan.

Relations between China and Taiwan were suspended in 1949, after the forces of the Chinese nationalist Kuomintang party, led by Chiang Kai Shek, suffered a defeat in the civil war against the Communist Party of China and moved to the island of Taiwan.

The Asian giant considers Taiwan as its rebel province, despite the fact that the island has declared its independence and has the support of the United States and the European Union.