China shied away from backing a US effort to slap a travel ban and financial sanctions on North Korea, saying yesterday its communist neighbor shouldn't be punished for testing a nuclear device.
Beijing's ambivalence came as the US began circulating a new draft UN resolution on North Korea that used softer language in a bid to get Russian and Chinese support.
China's response on the North Korean issue has been closely watched by the world because Beijing is believed to have the most leverage with the unpredictable, reclusive country. China is Pyongyang's top provider of desperately needed energy and economic aid.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao (劉建超) told reporters that "punishment should not be the purpose" of any UN action responding to Monday's test.
But Liu added that Pyongyang needed to be told that an atomic explosion was a mistake.
"It's necessary to express clearly to North Korea that the nuclear test is the wrong practice ... and the international community is opposed to this nuclear test," he said.
The Japanese weren't waiting for the UN resolution -- which the US hopes the UN Security Council will pass today. Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party backed a series of harsh measures yesterday, including a total ban on North Korean imports and a ban on all North Korean ships in Japanese waters.
The measures came amid a North Korean warning that the country would have an unspecified response to sanctions, Japan's Kyodo News Agency reported from Pyongyang.
"We will take strong countermeasures," Kyodo quoted Song Il-ho, North Korea's ambassador in charge of diplomatic normalization talks with Japan, as saying in an interview when asked about the sanctions.
"We never speak empty words," Song reportedly warned, without elaborating on the threat.
The Japanese were also lobbying for a tougher UN resolution that would include a prohibition on North Korean ships entering any port. Japan also wanted to ban North Korean aircraft from taking off or landing in any country.
Such proposals would likely face strong Russian and Chinese opposition, so the US opted for a softer approach that sought financial sanctions and a travel ban.
North Korea also condemned a US move to finance anti-Pyongyang broadcasters in South Korea.
Since Monday's alleged nuclear test, there have been daily reports in South Korean and Japanese media that Pyongyang was preparing another explosion. Yesterday, the South Korean newspaper Munhwa Ilbo quoted an unidentified source "well versed in North Koreans affairs" as saying a second test would happen in two to three days.
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