 Why Washington seeks to anger China once again? Tensions between Beijing and Washington are starting to rise once again. According to media reports, Kevin McCarthy, who succeeded Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the US House of Representatives, also plans to visit Taiwan in the spring. Pelosi's trip to the island caused a lot of noise last August, bringing the US and China to the verge of an armed conflict. Director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the Higher School of Economics of Vasily Akashin pointed out that the US seeks to prevent Taiwan's reunification with mainland China. The Americans have already departed from a number of obligations enshrined in US-Chinese communiques, particularly the obligation not to increase weapons supplies to the island. Those are only growing and will continue to grow. As US-China relations deteriorate, Washington is stepping up military cooperation with Taiwan, also gradually raising the level of political ties. The Americans are coming close to the threshold where it will be possible to talk about the actual recognition of Taiwan, the political scientist explained. Experts told to Russian Izvestia that visits by high-ranking US officials to the island are steps aimed at escalation. Since Pelosi's visit, military activities have been on the rise. If a military operation to seize Taiwan takes place, it will be the largest amphibious assault operation since World War II. No one knows if the Chinese authorities have made a decision on that. If so, the decision will take quite a long time to implement and no one will look at some US Congress member before launching an operation that the world's future depends on. Perhaps the decision has already been made, or maybe not. However, the probability of a war starting in the coming years does exist, the experts stressed. Kashin believes that the US is deliberately provoking the Chinese. It seems the Americans expect themselves to emerge victorious from this conflict, or they simply underestimate China's resolve. The expert concluded.