China on Thursday urged the United States to honor its commitment and contain "Taiwan independence."

"The United States should honor and fulfill its commitment, and work with China to definitely oppose and resolutely contain 'Taiwan independence'," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told the regular briefing.

Liu's comments came in the wake of U.S. Secretary of State Rice's comments at the Heritage Foundation think tank on Wednesday.

Rice said while the United States supports a one-China policy, it is obliged by law to help Taiwan defend itself in case of an attack, according to the Associated Press.

"Taiwan is an inalienable territory of China," Liu said.

The spokesman said China has always held to the basic principles of "peaceful reunification and one country two systems".

"We will never allow any country to interfere with China's internal affairs," Liu said.

The U.S. government and President George W. Bush have reiterated that the U.S. abides by the one-China policy. What's more, the three Sino-U.S. joint communiques oppose "Taiwan independence" and any attempt by the Taiwan authorities to change the status quo unilaterally, Liu said.

The U.S. should work with China to safeguard cross-Straits peace and stability and maintain stability in China-U.S. relations, the spokesman said.