Or this could have been leaked purposefully to send a signal to China that the US prepared for war if it acts against Taiwan—even if the official position is more diplomatic.
A deliberate leak to reinforce a hawkish foreign policy stance, for one thing, doesn't come out of a staff command. For another, it doesn't get disavowed by DoD in the military's official news outlet. There's a significant difference between "deniable" and "denied".