China said today that North Korea's nuclear test had hurt ties between the communist neighbours and declined to rule out backing possible UN sanctions aimed at Pyongyang.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman told a regular news briefing in Beijing that war over North Korea's nuclear weapons was "unimaginable" and urged a return to the six-party talks.
Asked repeatedly whether China stood by its long-standing opposition to sanctions against Pyongyang, Mr Liu said "the UN Security Council should take appropriate action" and that any steps should encourage peaceful resolution of the crisis.
"The DPRK [North Korea] ignored the opposition of the international community and brazenly conducted a nuclear test," he said shortly after North Korea said it carried out the test. "China resolutely opposes this."
China is a neighbour and traditional Communist ally of North Korea, but it has denounced the nuclear test and demanded that Pyongyang, which it has long propped up with donations of food and fuel, stop any action that could make matters worse.
The Chinese spokesman said that despite their friendship, China had never in any way assisted North Korea's nuclear programme and always opposed the nuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
The test came after several rounds of six-party talks, which China hosted between 2003 and 2005, aimed at persuading North Korea to dismantle its nuclear programmes.
Earlier Yonhapnews agency quoted a North Korean official as saying that North Korea was willing to end its nuclear programme and return to six-party talks on the issue if the United States reciprocates.
But the official added that Pyongyang was prepared to put nuclear warheads on missiles and conduct additional nuclear tests "depending on how the situation develops.
"We are still willing to abandon nuclear programmes and return to six-party talks. We can do that any time only if the United States takes corresponding measures," it quoted the official as saying.
At the UN Security Council, the United States proposed an array of financial and arms sanctions, including inspections of cargo coming and going from North Korea.
UN diplomats said a tough sanctions regime could be in place by the end of this week.
In a draft resolution, US Ambassador John Bolton called for a total arms embargo and a freeze on financial assets relating to Pyongyang's missiles or weapons of mass destruction programmes. There was even a proposed ban on luxury goods.
"We're going to take all actions we can, working with our partners, to make it very difficult for North Koreans to get the equipment, get the technology and to get the funding . . . to market these weapons around the world," US negotiator Christopher Hill said.