Several US ships are cruising in Taiwan

Several US ships toured Taiwan on Tuesday, with the arrival of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the island, which China considers part of its territory, according to US military sources.

At a time when China vowed to launch "targeted military actions" in response to Pelosi's visit, the US Seventh Fleet announced in a tweet that the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, which has been roaming the region since the beginning of July, is in the Philippine Sea, south of Taiwan.

A US Navy official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the ship was accompanied by the destroyer USS Higgins, which is equipped with the Aegis combat system, which includes anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles.

The US Navy released pictures of the USS Ronald Reagan, maneuvering with the supply ship USS Carl Brashear on Sunday.

A US official, who asked not to be named, said the aircraft carrier and its airborne group were "carrying out a routine mission in the Western Pacific."

Meanwhile, a Navy amphibious ship, the USS Tripoli, has roamed eastern Taiwan, according to the US Naval Institute (USNI), an independent organization close to the US Navy.

The US Naval Institute indicated that the USS Ronald Reagan and USS Tripoli are both carriers of the latest F-35 aircraft.

For its part, the US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) confirmed that the presence of these two ships in the region is not linked to the visit of Pelosi, who is the highest-ranking US official to visit the island since the visit of her predecessor Newt Gingrich in 1997.

"It is clear that we are taking all necessary measures to ensure the safety of members of Congress wherever they choose to go and whenever they want to travel," a department spokesman said Tuesday.

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