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Washington, Feb. 22 (CNA) Several members of the US Congress on Tuesday criticized Beijing for once again threatening to use military force against Taiwan, and called on the Clinton administration to react more strongly to such intimidation.

Benjamin Gilman, chairman of the House International Relations Committee, said he was "deeply concerned about China's latest effort to intimidate Taiwan."

"The administration's policy of accommodation toward Beijing is proving to be ineffective and is destabilizing the region," he said in a statement. "A firmer stance toward Beijing is required."

Gilman's counterpart in the Senate, Jesse Helms, expressed similar concerns.

The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said that by issuing a white paper on the "one China" principle, Beijing "has escalated its threat of armed aggression against democratic Taiwan, lowering the threshold by which Beijing would justify an invasion of the island."

At a hearing before the Senate Asia and the Pacific Subcommittee, a senior administration official came under fire for failing to react more strongly to the white paper.

John Kerry (D-MA) said that the threats contained in the white paper are "unacceptable."

He said that he was "disappointed" at the comments made at the hearing by Assistant Secretary of State Stanley Roth, and added that the United States "has to be very clear" with mainland China.

Roth said the threat of the use of force runs "contrary to the commitments contained in the communiques" between the United States and mainland China and the long-standing US position that differences between Taiwan and the mainland should be resolved peacefully.

Kerry, ranking minority member on the subcommittee, also said that the white paper is "a most inadvisable and unfortunate statement with potential serious implications to America's own policies over the course of the next months."

He was referring to the administration's effort to seek Congressional approval for granting permanent normal trade relations with the United States to mainland China.

Senate minority leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) said that he was "very concerned" about the implications for relations between Washington and Beijing as a result of the white paper, adding that he believes it is still in the United States' best interest to grant normal trade status to the mainland. (By Jay Chen)