China to lodge diplomatic protest with N Korea over n-test

From K J M Varma Beijing, Sep 9 (PTI) "Firm opposing" North Korea’snuclear test, China today said it will lodge diplomaticprotest with the country and asked it to honour its commitmentto denuclearisation. A senior official of the ministry will lodgerepresentation with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea(DPRK), Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunyingtold a media briefing here, using the country’s official name. She was replying to questions on the nuclear test,regarded as the most powerful atomic explosion ever carriedout by North Korea. Earlier, a statement from the Ministry said: "Today, theDPRK regardless of universal opposition from the internationalcommunity, conducted another nuclear test, to which theChinese government is firmly opposed. "We strongly urge the DPRK side to honour the commitmentto denuclearisation, abide by the relevant UN security councilresolutions and halt any moves that could aggravate thesituation." North Korea’s state-run television reported earlier todaythat the country has "successfully" conducted a nuclearwarhead explosion test. Monitors detected a 5.3-magnitude "artificial earthquake"near its main nuclear site this morning. Pyongyang’s fifth nuclear test, that comes eight monthsafter the last one, was expected to further tighten UNsanctions. Answering questions whether China would back furthersanctions against North Korea, Hua said China has implementedUN sanctions imposed in the past and as a permanent member ofthe Security Council would take part in the deliberations forthe response by the world body. PTI KJVSAI