BEIJING, May 26 (UPI) -- China, which previously said it "resolutely opposed" North Korea's nuclear testing, has called for a peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said Tuesday that the U.N. Security Council's actions -- including the condemnation of North Korea's claimed second nuclear test -- should be conducive to a peaceful resolution of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.
"We called on all parties concerned to seek calm and proper response, and to pursue peaceful resolution of the issue through consultation and dialogue," the Chinese news service Xinhua reported Ma as saying.
The 15-member Security Council has also planned on an appropriate resolution against the testing.
China, the closest friend of the impoverished and increasingly isolated North Korea, has been critical of Pyongyang's persistence with its nuclear and missile testing despite rising global uproar.
On Monday after North Korea's claims of its second nuclear test, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the North had ignored the opposition of the international community and that the "Chinese government is resolutely opposed to it."
On Tuesday, Ma said China "strongly demands" North Korea "live up to its commitment to non-nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, stop any activity that might worsen the situation and return to the track of the six-party talks."
The six-nation denuclearization talks remain stalled because of North Korea's objections to verification and other requirement in the process. Besides North Korea, the other members are China, the United States, Russia, Japan and South Korea.
