US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday hinted that the US military had expressed concerns that her plane "would get shot down" by Chinese forces as it neared Taiwan airspace, according to various Taiwanese media outlets.

Pelosi, however, refused to confirm or deny a reported trip to Taiwan.

Pelosi said, "I think what the president was saying is maybe the military was afraid our plane would get shot down, or something like that, by the Chinese." She added, "I don't know exactly. I didn't see it. I didn't hear it."

Earlier this week, The Financial Times (FT) cited six sources saying that Pelosi will head a delegation to Taiwan in August.

Market reaction

At the time of writing, the S&P 500 futures are down 0.36% on the day while the US dollar index steadies around 106.90.