China media threatens N. Korea aid cut over atomic test

BEIJING (AFP) - North Korea's sole major ally China will decrease aid to Pyongyang if it goes ahead with a planned nuclear test, state-run media said in an unusually frank warning on Friday.

China is the North's leading energy supplier and trade partner and is seen as one of the few nations able to influence Pyongyang's behaviour, with the comments adding a distinctive edge to its typical official calls for stability and dialogue.

"If North Korea engages in further nuclear tests, China will not hesitate to reduce its assistance to North Korea," the Global Times, which is close to the ruling Communist Party, said in an editorial.

"China hopes for a stable peninsula, but it's not the end of the world if there's trouble there," it added.