State Department Press Conference Underway Shortly

State Department Spokesperson Ned Price is shortly due to deliver a press conference from the Department of State.

• Livestream: https://www.state.gov/todays-briefing-schedule/
• Punchbowl News reported this morning that the Pentagon has begun early planning for a potential trip by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to Taiwan which may take place later this year.
• Punchbowl: “Biden administration officials anticipate McCarthy will visit the democratic island nation sometime in the spring, as House Republicans look to make countering China a major focus of their majority.”
• A McCarthy trip to Taiwan could reignite tensions with China and derail efforts by the Biden administration to repair a fracture between the two countries which followed former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) trip to the island in summer last year.
• Price may be asked to clarify the State Department's position on such a trip considering reports which suggested the department inititially opposed Pelosi's trip and in light of Secretary of State Antony Blinken's key trip to China scheduled for early February.