July 10, 2003	Thursday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 9,1424

BEIJING, July 9: China said on Wednesday it opposed any nuclear weapons testing on the Korean peninsula after South Korea’s intelligence agency said North Korea had tested devices that could be used to trigger nuclear blasts.

“China is opposed to the testing of nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula. This stance has not changed,” a Foreign Ministry official who asked not to be identified told Reuters.

The official did not say how China would officially respond to the report, which also said North Korea had already reprocessed some spent nuclear fuel rods. “It needs to be confirmed,” he said.

But analysts said the report was sure to rattle Chinese diplomats, who have made a vigorous push in recent weeks to broker a second round of talks on the nuclear crisis to follow those hosted in Beijing in April.

“China, of course, would not want to see this kind of thing,” said Shi Yinhong, a foreign policy expert at People’s University.—Reuters