Beijing: With the clock ticking, and North Asia on edge, the United States and China appear to be deploying carrot and stick diplomacy in attempt to dissuade North Korea from a nuclear test or missile launch.
A day after berating Pyongyang with the threat of tougher sanctions, a prominent Chinese state-owned newspaper has told the rogue state its best chance of survival is giving up nuclear weapons and accepting Chinese protection.
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Shows of force as North Korea-US tensions rise
As a US Navy strike force heads toward the Korean peninsula, Donald Trump pressures China to help "solve the North Korea problem" while Pyongyang fires off a defiant warning.
The Global Times, in its Chinese-language editorial, warned there is increasing consensus between the US and China on the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, with one difference being that the US may be prepared to use force.
North Korea's best option was to announce a halt to its nuclear program, and in return China would ensure North Korea's security afterwards and help to revive its economy, the editorial said.
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Even without a US military strike, North Korea wouldn't survive tougher United Nations sanctions, it said.
China's Foreign Ministry on Thursday said a return to dialogue with North Korea was needed, because sanctions alone would not work and "we hope relevant parties don't put all hope on unilateral sanctions".
The US is believed to be also considering sanctions against Chinese companies and banks that deal with North Korea. China's Foreign Ministry spokesman said: "china is opposed to the use of unilateral sanctions" that "hurt China's interests".
He declined to confirm if China's nuclear envoy would visit North Korea on Friday.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se told a parliamentary committee on Thursday the US and China had discussed the United Nations Security Council taking "additional measures that will be difficult for North Korea to endure".
China's customs office said Chinese coal imports from North Korean had fallen 51.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2017, after a February 18 order by the Chinese government banning all imports to comply with UN Security Council sanctions.
The next step in sanctions could include cutting Chinese crude oil supplies to North Korea, Chinese foreign policy analysts have suggested.
Tensions in the region are high as the 105th anniversary of North Korean founder Kim Il-sung approaches on Saturday. The festival has in the past been a trigger for North Korean missile displays.
A US aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, is also expected to enter Korean waters at the weekend.
The US had said it would consult its allies, including South Korea, before it took any possible unilateral action, Mr Yun told South Korean politicians. US Vice President Mike Pence will arrive in South Korea at the weekend, and will later visit Japan.
Japanese officials have denied a US media report that the Trump Administration had told Japan, ahead of the Florida summit, with Chinese President Xi Jinping that the US would take military action if China didn't place more pressure on North Korea.
The front page of the North Korean daily newspaper Rodong Sinmun showed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watching special forces performing combat exercises, including striking enemies at a simulated missile base.
A North Korean government website maintained the regime's usual rhetoric, declaring on Thursday that the regime had "cleared the final stage of completion of national nuclear forces" in September 2016.
"The great national achievement the dear marshal made is to develop our motherland into an invincible nuclear power and military power with formidable nuclear attack and defence means, who can strike the enemy ... wherever they are on earth."
China's Ministry of Defence issued a statement on its website denying widely circulating reports that the People's Liberation Army has deployed 150,000 troops to the border with North Korea, labelling the troop build-up "a fabrication".
US researchers released new satellite images showing continued activity around North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear test site on Wednesday.
Mr Xi and Mr Trump spoke on the phone on Wednesday. Later, in the UN Security Council, China abstained from a resolution on Syria's use of chemical weapons, which Russia vetoed. Mr Trump later told the Wall Street Journal he didn't think China was manipulating its currency, backing down on a key election campaign threat.