Many in Taiwan have shrugged off China's warnings about a possible trip to the democratic island by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, saying they were accustomed to Beijing's sabre-rattling and saw no cause for alarm.
Such a trip would be the first by a House speaker to the island since 1997, and China, which claims the island as its own, has said it is prepared to act in response, as tension rises between the two sides.
