US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is anticipated slot paten to land in Taiwan

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is anticipated slot paten to land in Taiwan on Tuesday evening in defiance of Chinese threats, a visit that may make her the highest-ranking American politician to go to the island in 25 years.

Pelosi is predicted to reach 10:20 p.m. civil time via private plane at Songshan Airport, consistent with the freedom Times, one amongst several media outlets linked to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s ruling party.

The South China Morning Post newspaper reported Tuesday that the US Air Force jet that brought Pelosi to Malaysia had departed the capital at 3:42 p.m., citing flight-tracking website Flightradar24. It wasn’t clear whether the US official was on board.

In a regular briefing Tuesday afternoon, Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said it couldn’t discuss the speculation around Pelosi’s trip. “Taiwan always welcomes international visitors coming to Taiwan to achieve a stronger understanding of Taiwan and to display their support for Taiwan,” Joanne Ou, a spokeswoman for the ministry, told reporters.

China, which regards Taiwan as modal receh a part of its territory, has vowed an unspecified military response to any Pelosi visit that risks sparking a crisis between the world’s biggest economies. President Xi Jinping on a call last week told President Joe Biden he would “resolutely safeguard China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity” which “whoever plays with fire will get burned.”

The US leader told Xi during the exchange that “Congress is an independent branch of presidency which Speaker Pelosi makes her own decisions.”

On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying hit back at that concept, saying Congress was a part of the U.S. government and may abide by its policy.

“When the House speaker, being the third-highest ranking figure within the US Government, flies on a US heavier-than-air craft to form a provocative visit to the Taiwan region, it's by no means unofficial behavior,” she said at an arrangement in Beijing, adding that any countermeasures from Beijing would be “justified” in response to such “unscrupulous behavior.”

China would be involved with its US ambassador “when appropriate,” she said. She left the door open for a possible in-person summit between Biden and Xi, however, saying that any such meeting would be decided “through diplomatic channels.”

While there are few signs China is planning slot  hoki a full-scale invasion of Taiwan, Beijing has passed through past visits by foreign officials with large sorties into Taiwan’s defence identification zone or across the median line that divides the strait. an outsized number of PLA warplanes flew near the median line Monday morning, Taiwan’s TVBS reported, adding that Taiwanese military warships were also deployed in what it called a routine operation.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said during a statement Tuesday that the island’s military was prepared to send “appropriate defense force per the threat.” “The military is decided, confident and capable of ensuring national security,” it added.

Caution washed across financial markets within the countdown to Pelosi’s visit. MSCI Inc.’s Asia-Pacific indicator slid the foremost in three weeks, with a number of the steepest falls in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan. US and European equity futures were also within the red. Treasuries and also the yen climbed amid demand for havens.

Read more: this can be Why China Is So edgy About Pelosi’s Trip to Taiwan

Pelosi on Tuesday held meetings in Malaysia, the second stop on her swing through Asia that embarked on on a daily basis earlier in Singapore. People at home with the matter said she would visit Taiwan after Malaysia, before she heads to Asian nation and Japan -- two staunch US allies.

The US politician will visit Taiwan’s parliament Wednesday morning and have lunch with Tsai, per the Apple Daily newspaper.

Pelosi would become the highest-ranking American politician to go to Taiwan since then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich did so in 1997. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Monday that Pelosi’s stature because the No. 3 official within the US made her trip sensitive, reiterating the military “won’t sit idly by.”

China’s reaction to Pelosi’s visit are closely watched. A spokesman for the White House National council, John Kirby, said on MSNBC Monday that Beijing shouldn’t view her trip as a provocation. He added that it’s “disconcerting that the Chinese might use this as some kind of pretext to really increase the tensions.”

Chinese media outlets including the Communist Party’s Global Times have suggested the People’s Liberation Army would respond aggressively to a Pelosi trip, possibly by sending warplanes right over the island.

Taiwan would then must decide whether to shoot them down, a move that might trigger a wider military conflict. China would should weigh the likelihood that America and its allies within the region would be drawn in militarily.

Biden said in May that Washington would intervene to defend Taiwan in any attack from China, although the White House later clarified he meant the US would supply weapons, in accordance with existing agreements.

Under the deal reached in 1978 to normalize relations between China and also the US, Washington agreed to acknowledge only Beijing because the seat of China’s government, while acknowledging -- but not endorsing -- the Chinese position that there's but one China and Taiwan is an element of China.

The US has insisted that any unification between the island and mainland must be peaceful, and supplied Taiwan with advanced weaponry while remaining deliberately ambiguous about whether US forces would help defend against a Chinese attack.

Visits by lower level US lawmakers have also prompted military responses by China. Last November, Chinese warplanes flew round the side of the island after a visit by a US congressional delegation.

Krisis besar terakhir di Taiwan terjadi pada 1995-96, ketika China melemparkan rudal ke laut dekat pelabuhan dan Presiden Bill Clinton saat itu mengirim dua kelompok tempur kapal induk ke daerah itu. Gingrich mengunjungi Taiwan dan China setahun setelah episode itu, memberi tahu Beijing bahwa AS akan mempertahankan pulau itu.