The US is making evacuation plans for its citizens in Taiwan, according to The Messenger, amid escalating tensions with China. Tens of thousands of Americans could be stranded if a fight breaks out on the island.
The planning process has been ongoing for at least six months, but has “heated up over the past two months or so,” according to a “senior US intelligence official” quoted by the news site. The person went on to say that the preparations were prompted by a “heightened level of tension.”
According to another source, Russia’s military action in Ukraine has caused the US to reconsider its arrangements in Taiwan, which would very certainly be the flashpoint in any conflict between the US and China.
After advising American citizens for months to leave the country via commercial means, the US evacuated the majority of its diplomatic employees from Kiev two weeks before Russian soldiers entered Ukraine.
The US State Department has not advised Americans against visiting Taiwan, and the island is now designated with the lowest of its four travel advisory levels. According to The Messenger’s sources, evacuation plans are being kept under wraps “because it is a sensitive subject for the Taiwanese government.”
While the State Department did not respond to the allegations, a department official stated that the secrecy was not unusual because “even talking about a [evacuation plan] starts people thinking something may be going on, even if it is just prudent planning.”
More than 80,000 Americans live in Taiwan as of 2019. According to one source, geographic factors would make evacuating these people difficult, as many sites on the island are connected by single roads running through tunnels, and evacuation vessels would have to weave their way around military ships racing toward Taiwan.
Since 2021, US President Joe Biden’s government has taken a more hostile tone against Beijing, regularly naming China as America’s biggest competitor while increasing US military operations in the region. Since taking office, the president has sent US warships through the Taiwan Strait on a near-monthly basis, in addition to striking new military and economic accords with Asian allies. China regards these so-called “freedom of navigation” exercises as provocations, and often reacts with its own military drills.
