China Thursday urged the United States to stop interfering in China's internal affairs via the Taiwan question and to strictly abide by the three Sino-US joint communiques and the one-China policy.

At a regular press conference in Beijing Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue was asked whether the recent visit of Tang Yiau-ming, Taiwan's so-called "defence minister," will affect the planned trip to the United States of Vice-President Hu Jintao.

Zhang said that Deputy Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing had made "solemn representations" to the US side, fully explaining China's position.

The US side should seriously consider China's stance by being fully aware of the importance of the Taiwan question to relations between China and the United States, Zhang said.

The spokeswoman told reporters that the Chinese naval fleet has been preparing for a trip abroad but the fleet's schedule included no United States harbours.

Zhang also responded to reports that Carl W. Ford, Junior -- the US Assistant Secretary for Intelligence and Research -- claimed on Tuesday that the Chinese army had advanced plans for chemical warfare and that Iran was continuing to acquire chemical-weapons materials, technology and equipment from China and Russia.

She said: "China possesses no chemical weapons and strictly adheres to the Convention on Banning Chemical Weapons."

China has drafted a series of laws and provisions to strictly curb the export of the relevant chemical materials, technology and equipment with the aim of preventing them from being used for chemical weapons, added Zhang.

The United States still possesses lots of chemical weapons that have yet to be destroyed, so it is really irresponsible and baseless for Washington to slander the Chinese side on the issue, Zhang said.

Turning to the current session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, Zhang said that China hopes the meeting will encourage in-depth discussions between all countries on human-rights issues.

However, China is opposed to human rights being made a political issue.

The commission's annual session in the Swiss city of Geneva should follow the principles of equality and mutual respect among all countries in order to promote a wide and thorough exchange of views on human rights issues of common concern, said Zhang.

She also said Chinese and Israeli officials will exchange in-depth views on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of common concern during the visit to China of Shimon Peres, Israel's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, from March 24 to 26.

(China Daily March 22, 2002)