Ahead of a visit from a US official, Taiwan "prepares for war" with China and activates its military.
According to reports, Taiwan has activated high alert on its military forces as it "prepares for war" with China over the visit of US lawmaker Nancy Pelosi.
In response to US senator Nancy Pelosi's rumored visit, Taiwan reportedly activated its military on high alert and cancelled the leave of some officials and soldiers as it "prepared for war" with China.
After receiving a high-level briefing, the military reportedly mobilized the air defense troops to "immediately prepare for war."
This occurs during Nancy Pelosi's trip of four Asian nations, which started on Monday. Pelosi will arrive on Tuesday night, according to Taiwanese local media, becoming the highest-ranking elected US official to visit in more than 25 years.
The purported visit by a US official will infuriate China, which sees Taiwan as its own territory and has repeatedly threatened "severe consequences" if the report is true.
"Whoever plays with fire will burn to death by it. We would like to remind the US that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) would never stand idly by and that we are fully prepared for any scenario "Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, was reported by AP.
China interprets public US contacts with Taiwan as encouragement to formalize the island's long-standing de facto independence, a move US leaders claim they oppose.
Beijing had been reassured by the US administration that there was no need to "come to blows" and that if such a visit occurred, it would signal no change in US policy on Taiwan.
After the Communists won a civil war on the mainland, Taiwan and China divided in 1949. Both sides claim to be one nation, but they disagree as to which government should hold the position of national leadership. Even though they don't have any formal ties, they do engage in trade and investment worth billions of dollars.
Another US air force passenger plane is currently en route from Alaska to east Asia. Its call sign is SPAR20, which is interesting. SPAR19 was Nancy Pelosi's call sign. Each aircraft is a Boeing C-40C.
In a phone chat with US President Joe Biden last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping also cautioned the US against interfering with Beijing's relations with Taiwan.
