The United States and its allies in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) are urging China to join moves to impose tough sanctions on Pyongyang for openly disregarding the body's repeated calls for an end to nuclear detonations, according to reports.

Following a third North Korean nuclear test in less than seven years, diplomats from the member countries of the UNSC held an emergency meeting in New York on Wednesday to discuss possible sanctions against Pyongyang. The council had earlier condemned the test, and said it would begin work on a draft resolution that would contain "further significant measures."

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China, North Korea's only major ally, is a permanent member of the UNSC.

The latest of North Korea's nuclear detonations -- the second since Kim Jong Un came to power in 2012 -- has unleashed an international uproar, with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon warning that it threatens regional security and undermines the global effort to contain the spread of nuclear weapons.

"I demand [North Korea] cease any further nuclear activities," Ban said.

The US envoy to the UN, Samantha Power, said that Washington wants a "tough, comprehensive and credible package of new sanctions" to punish Kim for the test blast. Both South Korea and Japan have vowed to work with the US to forge a strong UNSC response to North Korea's reckless behavior.

"We agreed that the provocative act by North Korea is unacceptable," Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the press recently. "We will deal with this situation in a firm manner through the cooperation of the United Nations Security Council."

Tough talk aside, however, most analysts agree that no move to punish North Korea will prosper without China's blessing. Beijing had earlier lambasted North Korea for conducting the weapons test, and warned that Pyongyang should do nothing more to add to an already tense situation.

China provides much-needed food aid, loans and humanitarian assistance packages to North Korea, which has over the past few years buckled under the weight of various international sanctions. Experts agree that a withdrawal of China's support would cripple North Korea, and possibly precipitate a costly social and political upheaval.

Speaking to Foreign Policy Magazine on condition of anonymity, a UNSC diplomat said China did not try to block the UNSC from confronting North Korea for the blast the way it did when the council sought to condemn Pyongyang for its human rights record last month.

"China was signaling they were prepared to consider further measures," the diplomat said of Wednesday's discussions. "The question will be, 'How strong will those measures be? -- and we have had no discussion of that yet."

TagsUS, North Korea, UN