The U.S. decision to help Taiwan buy eight diesel submarines will be a boon to the island's navy, enabling it to break any naval blockade imposed by its communist rival China. The submarines will also be a big deterrent to a Chinese attack, and perhaps more importantly, analysts say, they will give Taiwan's navy an offensive capability. "I think the decision to sell us eight submarines is a very exciting development," said military affairs academic and commentator Holmes Liao. U.S. President George W. Bush put off a possible sale of the Aegis naval air defense system to Taiwan on Monday, but offered Taiwan four Kidd-class destroyers, a dozen P-3 "Orion" submarine hunter aircraft and eight diesel submarines built in Europe.