Business as usual in North Korea-China border town

DANDONG, China, Oct 10 (Reuters) A few Chinese soldiers carried out a brief exercise with guns on a bridge linking China and North Korea today, but there was little obvious sign of tension a day after Pyongyang said it tested a nuclear device.

China, North Korea's closest ally, yesterday expressed anger at the isolated state's test, calling it a ''brazen'' move that threatened peace and stability in northeast Asia.

It is unclear exactly what measures Beijing will take to show its displeasure but a mainland-controlled Hong Kong newspaper reported today that China had cancelled leave for troops along at least part of the border with the impoverished North.

One step could be to shut of aid, but that is one Beijing has long resisted, fearing it could hasten North Korea's collapse and lead to a flood of refugees that could destabilise China.

The apparent anti-kidnapping drill on the China-North Korea Friendship Bridge, carried out by soldiers dressed in fatigues and carrying handguns, ended after about 15 minutes.

A customs official said the bridge, which crosses from China's bustling northeastern city of Dandong, was shut because of a holiday in North Korea marking the foundation of its Workers' Partyand should reopen tomorrow.

But low-level trade continued, with Chinese boats on the North Korean side loading and unloading goods as usual.

''Trade is as normal. Those are all Chinese ships,'' said Wang Liangjun, who takes tourists out in his speedboat to get a closer look at North Korea.

Chinese-flagged ships could be seen loading up boxes of frozen North Korean seafood and what looked like scrap metal, as gun-toting soldiers checked their paperwork.

On the quay there were bags labelled as fertilizer and a lone Honda motorcycle which had just been offloaded.

STAMPS AND SMOKESTACKS There was no overt military presence in Dandong, whose streets were packed with fashionable-looking young people carrying mobile phones and tourists.

''It feels very relaxed here,'' said Xiao Lu, selling North Korean stamps and money as souvenirs on the remains of a bridge that was bombed and cut in two during the 1950-53 Korean war.

A passenger train to Pyongyang crossed over as usual in the morning, along with a few light buses and cars, but no heavy goods vehicles were seen.

The scene on the North Korean side, viewed from a boat that at times was only metres from the river bank, was also full of people, having a day off to celebrate the holiday.

Yet, unlike in Dandong, solemn-faced soldiers carrying submachineguns patrolled the water front, at times hurling stones at Chinese tour boats that got too close.

''Long live the sun of the 21st Century, Kim Jong-il!'' proclaimed propaganda signs plastered on the walls of barracks and old factories, where machinery sat rusting among weeds.

Through the fog, several smokestacks from a former paper factory could be seen.

''That hasn't worked in years,'' said Wang, who has plied the murky waters of the Yalu River for more than two decades.

The difference between the Chinese and North Korean sides is most obvious at night. The Friendship Bridge is lit up with spotlights and gaudy neon, which stops abruptly half-way across.

North Korea, its economy reeling from years of mismanagement and natural disasters, does not have the power to light its side.

Reuters LL GC1307