Several Taiwan media outlets reported late on Monday that US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi will visit Taiwan on Tuesday and spend the night in Taipei though China has repeatedly warned that its military will take action if she does.

The Chinese Army “won’t sit idly by” if Pelosi visited Taiwan, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Monday during a regular press briefing in Beijing.

Despite China’s threats over a possible Taiwan visit by Nancy Pelosi, “US military preparation” is still underway, Politico has reported.

The Liberty Times newspaper said Pelosi was scheduled to visit Taiwan’s parliament on Wednesday morning before continuing her Asia trip.

The United Daily News, also citing unnamed sources, said “related officials” were told to receive Pelosi, who is set to arrive in the capital Taipei on Tuesday evening at the soonest and spend the night there.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry said it has no comment on reports on Pelosi’s travel plan and no further information to share with media.

It would be a landmark move by a US official and raise the risk of a military confrontation given China views Taiwan as its territory. Pelosi would become the first sitting speaker since Newt Gingrich to go to the democratically-ruled island in 25 years. The Liberty Times is one of Taiwan’s pro-ruling party newspapers. 

Earlier on Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said it would be “a gross interference in China’s internal affairs” if Pelosi visits Taiwan, and warned that it would lead to “very serious developments and consequences.”

Nancy Pelosi might visit Taiwan during her Asia tour, according to a senior Taiwanese government official and a US official, despite warnings from Biden administration officials, who are worried about China’s response to such a high-profile visit amid intense speculation that she may risk the wrath of Beijing by visiting Taiwan.

Pelosi left Taiwan out of the itinerary in a statement on Sunday announcing the Asia trip, which will also includes stops in Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi would be the most-senior US official to visit Taiwan since 1997.

US officials say China may be confusing Pelosi’s visit with an official administration visit, since she and Biden are both Democrats. Administration officials are concerned that China doesn’t separate Pelosi from Biden much, if at all.

Biden said last month that the US military opposed Pelosi visiting Taiwan, though since then has refused to elaborate on the warnings. The White House has said it is up to the House speaker where she travels, and that they have little say in her decision.

Many Democrats and Republicans in Congress said it was Pelosi’s right to travel to Taiwan. Other members appeared to be more cautious about the diplomatically sensitive trip, reports CNN. 

The administration takes extra care for Pelosi’s security when she travels overseas because she is in the presidential line of succession. Defense department officials are working around the clock on monitoring any Chinese movements in the region and securing a plan to keep her safe.

The Chinese embassy to the United States has objected to her expected trip, which was planned for April before Pelosi tested positive for Covid-19, urging members of Congress to tell the speaker not to make it.

Pelosi has long been a critic of the Chinese Communist Party. In recent years, she voiced support for the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

Administration officials are concerned Pelosi’s trip comes at a particularly tense moment, as President Xi Jinping is expected to seek an unprecedented third term at the upcoming Chinese Communist Party congress, increasing the political stakes.

The timing means Xi can’t afford to look weak in response to what Beijing views as foreign interference in its affairs, reports Bloomberg. 

Pelosi is accompanied by five fellow House Democrats, including Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks of New York.

Moscow warned Monday that it would respond to Western supplies of long-range weapons to Ukraine by stepping up efforts to push Kyiv’s forces further from its border.

“The more long-range weapons you supply, the further we will push away from our territory” the line of Ukrainian forces, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned Moscow would hit new targets if the West supplies Ukraine with long-range missiles.

Washington and London have defied Putin’s warnings against supplying Kyiv with advanced weapons, saying they would send long-range missile systems to Ukraine.

The US last week announced it would give Kyiv its high mobility artillery rocket system, known as HIMARS, which can simultaneously launch multiple precision-guided missiles and is superior in range and precision to existing systems Ukraine has.

Britain said Monday it will mirror the United States and send long-range missile systems to Ukraine too.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen will hold a bilateral meeting with his US counterpart Secretary of State Antony J Blinken in Washington on Monday, the day of the 50th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries.

“We will discuss how we Bangladesh-US would further enhance our bilateral relations in the next 50 years,” Momen told the media before leaving for Washington DC on Saturday evening.

The half-century of bilateral ties with Washington after Bangladesh emerged as an independent nation amid a critical US stake led it towards a revitalized relation in a different geopolitical reality as the two countries chalked out a series of engagements this year.

Momen is going to meet his US counterpart for the first time since Washington imposed sanctions on the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and some of its current and former officials alleging violation of human rights on December 10 last year.

 Along with a wide range of bilateral issues, the foreign minister said he would urge the US to reconsider the sanction. “We will raise the sanction issue,” he said.

He hoped that there should be a positive response from the US side regarding the sanction as the RAB is efficient and effective in general, free from corruption.

The foreign minister said democracy is prevailing in Bangladesh while the country has made tremors in economic prosperity for more than a decade.

 “But our success stories were not echoed properly in the outer world sometimes, we will tell our success stories in the meeting,” he said.

 Momen said he would also raise the issue of handing over Rashed Chowdhury, a convicted killer of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who is now in the US, to Bangladesh for ensuring rule of law and justice.

Bangladesh is a peace-loving nation and for that Dhaka is less interested in defense procurement from the US, he said.

The foreign minister said Dhaka is examining the draft on the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), handed over by the US during the last partnership dialogue.

Washington wanted Dhaka to sign two defense agreements– General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) and the Acquisition Cross Servicing Agreement (ACSA)– which is the gateway to being able to do more on the security front between the two countries.

“Bangladesh wants to engage with the USA in economic cooperation, food security, blue economy, renewable energy and technology transfer which are related to welfare of the people,” he said, adding that Dhaka is willing to diversify trade with Washington while Bangladesh would invite US investments in special economic zones and hi-tech parks in the country.

The foreign minister said he will also discuss US support in commencing the early repatriation of displaced Rohingyas from Bangladesh to Myanmar.