China is facing mounting international pressure to punish North Korea over its latest nuclear test as Japan, the United States, and South Korea have called on Beijing to support the 'strongest possible' sanction against Pyongyang.

Japan's Vice Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki,  US Deputy Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and their South Korean counterpart Lim Sung-Nam held a trilateral one day meeting in Tokyo on Saturday and strongly urged China to back a UN Security Council resolution that will harshly punish the secluded nation.

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"We strongly hope that China, as its neighbour and the most influential country on North Korea, will fully cooperate with the international community to adopt a strong resolution," Saiki said at a joint news conference.

Saiki revealed that the three countries discussed ways to help adopt a UN resolution with the 'strongest possible' punishment against Pyongyang which will be implemented at the earliest time.

China, a permanent member of the Security Council, has been North Korea's biggest economic benefactor and largest trade partner. But bilateral ties between the two nations has been strained due to Pyongyang's belligerent actions and its development of a nuclear program.

In the past, China had ignored calls for international sanctions against Pyongyang following its nuclear tests and continued to support North Korea's failing economy

Reports, however, indicate that the latest North Korea nuclear test has angered China and it will not tolerate Pyongyang's belligerent actions anymore.

Blinken called on China to show real leadership at the Security Council and give assurances to the international community that there will be significant sanctions for North Korea's actions.

"The bottom-line is that the failure to take significant measures now almost guarantees that North Korea will continue to repeat this exercise of testing nuclear weapons," he added.

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye on Wednesday rallied the international community, including China, to mete out the harshest punishment on North Korea following the nuclear test.

North Korea's latest detonation of a hydrogen bomb is the fourth nuclear test it had carried out since 2006, signalling Pyongyang's continuous development of its nuclear arsenal despite international condemnation.

TagsNorth Korea, Lim Sung-Nam, sanctions against North Korea