President George Bush said today he was not changing US policy on Taiwan.
He was clarifying earlier remarks indicating he would use US military force to defend Taiwan against any attack from China.
"I have said that I will do what it takes to help Taiwan defend itself . . . we need a peaceful resolution of this issue," Mr Bush said in an interview with CNN.
Earlier Mr Bush appeared to be hardening US policy when, asked in an interview with ABCtelevision whether commitment to defending Taiwan meant invoking the full force of the US military, he said: "Whatever it took to help Taiwan defend itself."
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Chinese Foreign Minister Mr Tang Jiaxuan had called US arms sales to Taiwan interference in China's sovereignty and said the United States would suffer from the arms deal.
"The United States has interfered with the sovereignty of China and its internal affairs, including the principle of a peaceful unitary state", Mr Tang told reporters through a Chinese-Russian interpreter during an official visit to Ukraine.
"I am deeply convinced that the Americans themselves will suffer from this", he said.
The minister, on a five-day visit to the former Soviet state to discuss trade links, said the US decision this week to supply its biggest arms package to Taiwan in a decade undermined agreements signed by China and the United States.
