A US aircraft carrier and its strike group are headed into the hotly contested waters around Taiwan ahead of a possible visit by Nancy Pelosi to the island

A US aircraft carrier and its strike group are in the South China Sea, which could lead to a tense standoff.

The US Navy confirmed that the vessels were in the South China Sea.

After making a scheduled port visit, the aircraft carrier left Singapore.

The carrier is carrying out her patrol in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Less than a day ago, a report emerged about the Pentagon's preparations to protect Speaker Nancy Pelosi if she were to visit Taiwan.

Pelosi was going to go to the island. The trip was put off after she tested positive for the disease.

Pelosi is expected to visit the island in August.

China warned of a possible military response if Pelosi went.

"If the US insists on taking its own course, the Chinese military will never sit idly by, and it will definitely take strong actions to foil any external force's interference," said Senior Colonel Tan Kefei.

Since 1997, the highest-ranking US official to visit Taiwan has been Gingrich.

There is a chance that Pelosi will visit Taiwan. China has grown more aggressive with Taiwan, flying more military aircraft near the island and even using an armada of sand dredgers to carve sand from the Taiwanese coast.

The US provides Taiwan with weapons even though it doesn't recognize its independence. Bill Burns, the head of the CIA, said this month that China is likely to learn from Russia's failures in the Ukraine and calibrate the timing of an invasion.

China wants to reunify with Taiwan, which it considers a separate province.

Pelosi is going to visit Japan, Indonesia, and Singapore.

For now, Pelosi's Taiwan trip has not been confirmed, but other stops like Japan, Indonesia, and Singapore are being considered.