Pelosi lands in Taipei

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan last night, becoming the highest-ranking American official to visit the self-ruled island that is claimed by China in 25 years.

Pelosi stepped on Taiwan soil for the first time minutes after her army flight landed at Sungshan airport at 10.44pm.

Wearing a pink suit, she was greeted by scores of people.

China had warned of "resolute and strong measures" if Pelosi went ahead with the trip.

The Biden administration did not explicitly urge her to call it off, while seeking to assure Beijing it would not signal any change in US policy on Taiwan.

Earlier, Chinese warplanes buzzed the line dividing the Taiwan Strait yesterday shortly before Pelosi's expected arrival.

The Chinese leadership has repeatedly warned against Pelosi - a long-time critic of Beijing - making a trip to Taiwan, which China claims as its own.

In the latest rhetorical salvo, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that US politicians who "play with fire" on the Taiwan issue will "come to no good end."

The United States said on Monday it would not be intimidated by what it called Chinese "sabre rattling."

Most of Pelosi's planned meetings, including with President Tsai Ing-wen, were scheduled for today, a person familiar with her itinerary said.

Four sources said she was scheduled this afternoon to meet a group of activists who are outspoken about China's human rights record.

Taiwan's foreign ministry said it had no comment on reports of Pelosi's travel plans, while her office has also kept silent.

Last night, Taiwan's tallest building, Taipei 101, lit up with messages including: "Welcome to Taiwan," "Speaker Pelosi,, "Taiwan [heart] USA."

With tensions already high, several Chinese warplanes flew close to the median line dividing the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday morning, a source told Reuters. Several Chinese warships have also sailed near the unofficial dividing line since Monday, the source said.

The source said both Chinese warships and aircraft "squeezed" the median line, an unusual move the person described as "very provocative."

The Chinese aircraft repeatedly conducted tactical moves of briefly "touching" the median line and circling back to the other side of the strait while Taiwanese aircraft were on standby nearby, the person said. The Chinese planes left the area in the afternoon but the ships remained, they said. Neither side's aircraft normally cross the median line.

Meanwhile four US warships, including an aircraft carrier, were positioned in waters east of Taiwan on what the US Navy called routine deployments.

The carrier USS Ronald Reagan had transited the South China Sea and was currently in the Philippines Sea, east of Taiwan and the Philippines and south of Japan, a US Navy official told Reuters.

It was operating with a guided missile cruiser, USS Antietam, and a destroyer, USS Higgins.

The amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli was also in the area.

Since last week, China's People's Liberation Army has conducted various exercises, including live fire drills, in the South China Sea, Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea, in a show of Chinese military might.

China views visits by U.S. officials to Taiwan as sending an encouraging signal to the pro-independence camp on the island.

Washington has no official diplomatic relations with Taiwan but is bound by US law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.

Russia - itself locked in confrontation with the West over its invasion of Ukraine - also chimed in on Pelosi's expected visit.

The Kremlin's foreign ministry spokeswoman called it a "provocation" aimed at pressuring Beijing and reiterated Russian support for Beijing's One China principle.

Earlier yesterday, Pelosi visited Malaysia, having begun her Asia tour in Singapore on Monday. Her office said she would also go to South Korea and Japan but made no mention of a Taiwan visit.