The United States stressed Thursday that its proposed missile shield would not nullify China’s nuclear arsenal, following the latest stinging critique of the plan by Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States was committed to discussing the proposed system with China, including during talks on security issues due to start Friday in Beijing.

“We’ve been quite (up) front about the fact that this consideration is not directed at any existing arsenal, like the Chinese or the Russians,” said Boucher.

“We have been quite clear that we’re prepared to continue to discuss and consult with the Chinese government on these issues.”

Zhu said on Thursday in Rome that China was “categorically opposed” to a US shield against ballistic missiles.

Such a scheme would “aim to absorb Taiwan into the American sphere of protection, which we consider a gross interference into China’s domestic affairs,” he said during an official visit to Italy.

China considers Taiwan a renegade province and is harshly critical of US arms sales to the island.

US Undersecretary of State for Security and Arms Control John Holum is heading a large team from Washington at security talks in Beijing on Friday and Saturday.

It will be the first time the two sides have sat down for arms control and proliferation consultations since NATO bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during the Kosovo campaign in May 1999, sending Sino-US relations into crisis.

US scientists are meanwhile preparing for Friday’s crucial missile intercept test which will determine whether the Pentagon certifies the National Missile Defense system as ready for deployment by 2005.

President Clinton said last week that he had not yet made a final decision whether to go ahead with the system.

Russia, China and others have warned that deployment, which would mean US withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, would trigger a destabilizing arms race.

The United States says the shield would be limited to protecting its territory from small-scale attacks from nations like North Korea or terrorists.