During a trip to Taiwan last year, Florida congressman Mike Waltz stressed the U.S. needed to embrace "strategic clarity” and spell out to China that an invasion of the island would be met with a strong U.S. response.

Now that he’s President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming national security adviser, Waltz is beginning to see the value in ambiguity.

After more than 24 years in the Army, Waltz built his reputation in Washington as a China hawk, working on a House task force to coordinate policy toward Beijing. He introduced bills to prevent federal retirement funds from being invested in China’s military, decrease U.S. dependence on critical minerals from China, and make the protection of Taiwan a specific goal for the U.S. military.