Bush said in a CNN interview that the "Chinese must hear that our administration, like other administrations, is willing to uphold the spirit" of the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which requires US presidents to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.

"However, I think it is important for people to also note that my administration strongly supports the One China policy, and we expect any dispute to be resolved peacefully."

"Nothing has really changed in policy as far as I am concerned."

Bush also told the Washington Post he did not view China as an "enemy".

He said he expected his state visit to China would go ahead as planned in October.

"And I do not view China as an enemy," Bush said. "I view China as a partner on some issues and a competitor on others." Competition "does not necessarily mean distrust, anger, you know, furore", he added.

Earlier, Bush appeared to be hardening US policy when, asked in an interview with ABC television whether commitment to defending Taiwan meant invoking the full force of the US military, he said: "Whatever it took to help Taiwan defend their self."

Bush's comments were described as a "dramatic shift in US policy" by Gary Ackerman, a New York Democrat.

"I fear that in the course of two days we have moved from deliberate strategic ambiguity to strategic confusion," he said. The president's announcement "will be seen in China as further provocation and support of Taiwan's independence".

But a senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it would be erroneous to see Bush's comments as a dilution of the traditional policy of ambiguity.

"The answer the president gave to ABC may have been interpreted differently than it was intended," another White House official said.

A Beijing-based expert on international studies yesterday looked at Bush's "what ever it took" remarks as just "a rhetoric game", which he said does not pose any significant threat to Washington's basic China policy.

"Bush did use much stronger words and harsher rhetoric on the US position on Taiwan. But it is not unexpected at all and does not signal any drastic change of Washington's basic China policy," said Lin Limin, a researcher with the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations.

Lin told China Daily: "You cannot take a politician's political rhetoric too seriously. Bush did the same thing right after the spy plane incident by taking a tough line towards China and using bellicose rhetoric."

"And what happened later? He rowed back and softened his tone."

(China Daily Hong Kong Edition 04/26/2001)