China has expressed concerns over the launch
and will continue communication with all sides, said Foreign Ministry spokesman
Liu Weimin, adding that ambassadors from Tokyo and Seoul were at the ministry
on Friday.
Liu
said peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia are the
responsibility of all sides, and asked parties to carefully deal with the
matter together.
The
15-member United Nations Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting for
later Friday.
Meanwhile,
Washington said it was suspending plans to contribute food aid to Pyongyang in
exchange for a rollback of its nuclear programmes.
Regional
tension has escalated dramatically since the DPRK's announcement of the
satellite launch weeks ago.
But the
fact that the DPRK invited up to 200 foreign journalists to cover the event on
the ground - a clear, surprisingly high-profile gesture to reflect what it says
are peaceful intentions in space - has laid the foundation for a possible shift
in diplomacy, said Ruan Zongze, deputy director of the China Institute of
International Studies.
"(The
failure) is not necessarily a bad thing. There's increased transparency, and
that ought to be encouraged," he said.
Reactions
from the global community will by and large determine Pyongyang's next move,
Ruan said, adding: "Overreaction may provoke the DPRK and corner it into
further isolation."
The
White House said Pyongyang's satellite launch, despite its failure, threatens
regional security, violates international law and contravenes its own recent
commitments.
Similarly,
Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Osamu Fujimura, said the country has made a
strict protest through diplomatic channels.
"Even
if it was a failure, it is a grave provocation to our country," he said.
Worries
had mounted that the DPRK may be using the opportunity to prepare for an atomic
test, according to Wang Junsheng, an expert of Northeast Asian studies at the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing.
Western
critics see the launch as a ballistic missile test, which the DPRK has been
banned from carrying out under UN Security Council Resolutions.
The
United States, Japan and Republic of Korea will continue to use Pyongyang's
satellite programmes as an excuse to expand their anti-ballistic missile
defense systems, said Ruan.
"Although
the launch failed, these powers will still see the DPRK as an 'X factor' and
try to deploy ABMs. This is something China doesn't want to see, because it
will only militarise and spark conflict in the region," he said.
In any
event, there had been a lot of hype over Pyongyang's actual launch
capabilities, said Zhang Xiao'an, vice-president of the United Nations
Association of China.
"China
is concerned that DPRK-US relations, which had eased, may be dragged into a new
vicious cycle and could even lead to an arms race," she said. - Zhao
Shengnan contributed to this story in Beijing.
Wu Jiao
in Pyongyang and Hu Yinan
China
Daily
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