BEIJING, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- China's leadership is prepared to play tough with North Korea in an effort to get it back to negotiations on its nuclear program, The New York Times reported.
Advisers who have discussed the issue with top officials say that would include cutting oil shipments. China supplies as much as 90 percent of North Korea's oil at what leaders say is a discount price.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to visit Beijing Friday to discuss the North Korean nuclear test with Chinese leaders. North Korean President Kim Jong Il met Thursday with a delegation sent to Pyongyang by Chinese President Hu Jintao.
"I think Chinese leaders are prepared to take a hard line, but Kim may be smart enough to try to divide China and the United States," one Chinese international relations expert who did not want his name used told the Times.
