It’s after 7:00pm in Taiwan, and Reuters reports that the military aircraft likely carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her delegation has departed Malaysia and could be bypassing the South China Sea, where the Chinese navy has been conducting sporadic military drills.

The plane widely believed to be Pelosi’s departed Kuala Lumpur at 3:42pm local time, with the destination listed as “N/A”. However some have noted another US Air Force C-40C had landed in Kuala Lumpur on the same day Pelosi was there, so it’s still uncertain which aircraft could be transporting the House Speaker.

Reuters further observes that “In addition to the military incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on a nearly daily basis this year, two Chinese warships – a missile destroyer and guided-missile frigate – were also tracked in international waters off the coast of Lanyu Island in eastern Taiwan early Tuesday morning.”

On Monday evening, Taiwan and US media sources said she’s expected to touch down at Taipei Songshan Airport at 10:20pm Tuesday night.

China’s foreign ministry has repeated that it’s prepared to respond to what it says is a blatant violation of its sovereignty and the One China principle with “forceful measures”. Some serious military hardware is meanwhile being maneuvered on the ground in nearby Fujian province, which sits just across from the self-ruled island.

The PLA’s Eastern Theater command appears to still be engaged in ‘live fire’ drills in a show of force.

Large military convoys have been seen traversing civilian streets in Fujian. It’s long been known that any serious Chinese military action threatening Taiwan would likely be staged from this portion of the mainland which sits most closely to Taiwan, just across the strait.

As for US Navy positioning, Reuters has separately reported:

Four U.S. warships, including an aircraft carrier, were positioned in waters east of Taiwan on what the U.S. Navy called routine deployments on Tuesday amid Chinese anger over U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit the island.

Meanwhile, there are unconfirmed reports emerging that the website of the Taiwan presidency has been subject to a cyberattack Tuesday, just as Pelosi’s plane appears to be en route.

The Chinese foreign minister has also just issued a fresh threat, saying Pelosi is playing “with fire” – repeating President Xi’s words last Thursday in his phone call with Biden – and says she risks the US becoming an enemy of “1.4 billion Chinese people” and thus “will not meet with a good end.”

developing…