U.S. planning evacuation of Americans from Taiwan: Report

The U.S. is reportedly creating plans to evacuate Americans from Taiwan in the event of an armed conflict or other emergency, The Messenger reported Monday.

Pentagon spokesperson Lt. Col. Martin Meiners declined to comment on the plans but asserted that the government did not "see a conflict in the Taiwan Strait as imminent or inevitable."

A source familiar with the plan told the outlet that the Russian invasion of Ukraine had prompted U.S. authorities to reexamine their plans for a hypothetical evacuation of the island.

The People's Republic of China in Beijing maintains a formal claim to the island, which the Republic of China has maintained as its last outpost since losing the Chinese Civil War in 1949. Both governments agree in principle on the existence of a single Chinese state including the territory of both, though each claims to be the legitimate authority of that state.

Mounting tensions between the U.S. and China over the war in Ukraine and repeated aerial incursions in Taiwanese airspace have heightened concerns of an imminent invasion by Beijing-aligned forces in recent years.

As many as 80,000 Americans lived in Taiwan as of 2019, the Messenger noted. Such a mass evacuation would likely face hurdles given the need for aerial or maritime transport, which could conceivably occur under fire.

News of the plans comes after the Biden administration declined to attempt the mass evacuation of U.S. citizens in Sudan when civil war broke out in the country earlier this year. Moreover, the administration's last attempted mass evacuation came during the 2021 Taliban takeover of Afghanistan for which President Joe Biden received considerable scrutiny.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.