China says trying to get NKorea back to talks

BEIJING, Oct 10 (Reuters) China today said it was taking active steps to encourage North Korea to return to six-party talks, a day after Pyongyang said it had conducted a nuclear test.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a regular news briefing that North Korea had ignored international opinion in carrying out the test, which he said had damaged bilateral relations.

China is a neighbour and traditional Communist ally of North Korea, but it denounced the nuclear test in unusually strong language on Monday and demanded Pyongyang stop any action that could make matters worse.

Liu said China had always opposed the nuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

''This stance hasn't changed... The DPRK (North Korea) ignored the widespread opposition of the international community in brazenly conducting a nuclear test and China resolutely opposes this.'' REUTERS LL BD1301