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US says China must restrain North Korea

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's administration urged China to press North Korea to halt provocative actions against South Korea, after an artillery attack on the South that the US called a "premeditated" violation of the truce that ended the Korean War.
As the isolated North's only ally and main economic partner, China plays a "pivotal" role in reducing tensions and has a duty to tell Pyongyang that deliberate acts "specifically intended to inflame tensions in the region" are not acceptable, the State Department said.
"China is pivotal in moving North Korea in a fundamentally different direction," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters. "We expect China to be clear, like we are, as to where the responsibility for the current situation, the current tension lies. This is something that we feel strongly about."