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Chinese warplanes flew this morning near the air border over the Taiwan Strait ahead of the expected arrival in Taipei of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi later in the day, Reuters reported.

Beijing has already warned Pelosi several times not to visit its breakaway territory, but Washington has responded that it will not be intimidated by the "rattling of weapons" from the Chinese side.

The US has deployed an aircraft carrier and warships around Taiwan

In addition to Chinese warplanes flying over the dividing line over the strait, Chinese warships have also been stationed there since yesterday, a source told Reuters.

He described these unusual actions by Beijing as "very provocative".

According to him, this morning a Chinese plane tactically "touched" the unofficial border over the Taiwan Strait several times, but returned back.

At the time, Taiwanese planes were flying nearby on standby, but no plane crossed the dividing line, the source told Reuters.

In a statement released today, the Ministry of Defense in Taipei said it is in full control of the military situation around Taiwan and will take adequate action in response to "threats from the enemy".

The ministries of defense and foreign affairs in Beijing did not respond to a request for comment, BTA said.

Taiwan prepares its bomb shelters

A person familiar with Pelosi's schedule said most of her meetings in Taipei are scheduled for Wednesday, so she may arrive on the island tomorrow.

The Taiwanese newspaper "Liberty Times" wrote, without citing its sources, that the leader of the lower house of the US Congress landed in Taipei at 22:20 local time (14:20 GMT).

Reuters added that Taiwan was readying its air raid shelters for occupancy amid rising tensions with China and concerns that Russia's invasion of Ukraine could encourage Beijing to try to seize the self-ruled island by force.

There are more than 4,500 such shelters in Taipei alone, which can house about 12 million people, four times the city's population.

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