Pentagon is making plans for Speaker Kevin McCarthy to visit Taiwan

The Pentagon is preparing for United States Speaker Kevin McCarthy to visit to Taiwan later this year.

Punchbowl News reported the development on Monday, citing an official directly involved in the talks.

Biden administration officials anticipate McCarthy will visit Taiwan sometime in the spring, the report said.

Following McCarthy’s election as Speaker earlier this month, Republicans are set to make countering China’s force a major pillar of their new majority in the House.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy is set to visit Taiwan later this year. Pictured: Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy at the US Capitol in Washington, US, January 12, 2023

A possible trip to the island in East Asia would need considerable security planning and preparation for any possible response from China.

McCarthy previously said in the lead-up to the mid-term elections last year that he would visit Taiwan if he became Speaker.

He had also supported his predecessor Nancy Pelosi’s historic trip to the country when she visited last year. Her trip heightened tensions between Beijing and Washington.

The former Speaker of the House of Representatives flew to Taipei on a US Air Force jet in August 2022 along with five other members of Congress.

Pelosi made headlines on her trip when she accused China of ‘standing in the way’ of Taiwan’s participation in international affairs and cautioned that America’s commitment to preserving democracy ‘remains ironclad’.

Nancy Pelosi flew to Taiwan last year and met with the country’s female president Tsai Ing-wen, saying the US ‘will not abandon its commitment’ to the island

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, left, and Taiwanese President President Tsai Ing-wen, right, greet each other during a meeting in Taipei, Taiwan

During last years’ trip, Nancy Pelosi accused China of ‘standing in the way’ of Taiwan’s participation in international affairs and cautioned that America’s commitment to preserving democracy ‘remains ironclad’.