Reaction from US lawmakers was fast -- and sometimes furious -- after President George W. Bush said US military force could be used if China attacks Taiwan.
"I think the president's straightforward, courageous and unambiguous statement will guarantee that hostility in the Taiwan Strait will not take place," Democratic Representative Tom Lantos of California said.
Others criticized Bush's words as provocation to China that dramatically changed US policy without consulting Congress.
In a series of interviews Bush said on Wednesday that US military force is "certainly an option" if China invades Taiwan -- and that the US would do "whatever it took" to help the country defend itself.
The remarks were unusually blunt following decades in which US administrations have been purposely vague on whether Washington actually would go to war over Taiwan, as opposed to arming Taiwan well enough so the country could defend itself.
Democratic Representative Gary Ackerman said Bush only raised more questions about US policy with his statements, coming on top of the announcement that reviews of Taiwan arms purchases will be undertaken as needed.
"I fear that in the course of two days we have moved from deliberate strategic ambiguity to strategic confusion," Ackerman said.
"What does `as needed' mean? ... Who decides when reviews take place? ... What is the role of Congress? ... What does `whatever it takes' mean?" Ackerman said at a House International Relations subcommittee meeting.
"The president's attempts to be clear about Taiwan will be seen within China as further provocation and support for Taiwan's independence," he said. "Is that what the president is encouraging?"
Ackerman asserted that "strategic ambiguity has served us well" for the past two decades, a point repeated in a speech later in the day by Senator John Kerry, a Mass-achusetts Democrat.
"We have been deliberately vague about the circumstances under which we would come to Taiwan's defense, not only to discourage Taiwan from drawing us in by declaring independence but also to deter a Chinese attack by keeping Beijing guessing," Kerry said on the Senate floor.
He said Bush's comments suggested that the president had abandoned the policy of "strategic ambiguity" with "absolutely no consolation with members of Congress or with our allies in the region."
Kerry said the Taiwan Relations Act passed by the US in 1979 does not commit Washington to defend Taiwan but rather to provide the country with equipment needed to defend itself.
Lantos, at the House subcommittee hearing, said it was time to "go beyond" the old ambiguous approach. He urged bipartisan support for Bush's move.
"Ambiguity never was any good," agreed Republican Repre-sentative Dana Rohrabacher of California.
"It did nothing but leave a question mark in the mind of potential enemies as to what they could get away with and what they couldn't," he said in a telephone interview, adding that Bush's comments came at "exactly the right time" -- following Beijing's detention for 11 days of the crew a US surveillance plane.
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