 U.S. evacuates Americans from Taiwan. Amid rising tensions with China, the U.S. is preparing evacuation plans for its citizens in Taiwan. The messenger reported, should a conflict break out on the island, tens of thousands of Americans could become trapped. The planning process has been underway for at least six months, but has heated up over the past two months or so, a senior U.S. intelligence official told the news site. The official added that a heightened level of tension had driven the preparations. Another source said that Russia's military operation in Ukraine had forced the U.S. to consider its arrangements in Taiwan, which would likely be the flashpoint for any confrontation between the U.S. and China. The U.S. evacuated most of its embassy staff from Kiev two weeks before Russian troops entered Ukraine after warning American citizens for several months to leave the country by commercial means. According to the messenger's sources, the drawing up of evacuation plans is being kept quiet because it is a sensitive subject for the Taiwanese government. U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has adopted an increasingly hostile stance towards Beijing since 2021, repeatedly labelling China as America's top competitor, while expanding U.S. military activity in the region. In addition to signing new military and economic agreements with Asian allies, the president has sent U.S. warships through the Taiwan Strait on a near monthly basis since taking office. China considers the so-called freedom of navigation exercises to be provocations and typically responds with military drills of its own. Biden has also said on four separate occasions that he would respond with military force if Beijing attempted to possibly reunify Taiwan with the Chinese mainland.