China is continuing its efforts to dissuade North Korea from making provocations through its state-run news outlets.
 
Amid rising concerns over a sixth nuclear test by the North, the Global Times, a sister paper of the Communist Party’s official newspaper the People's Daily, posted an editorial entitled “Will Pyongyang be Wise to Take a Step Back?”
 
In the editorial, the newspaper said that the situation will become irreversible if North Korea carries out a sixth nuclear test. It warned that all stakeholders will bear the consequences, but Pyongyang will surely suffer the greatest losses.
 
The newspaper pointed out that the UN’s unprecedentedly severe sanctions will deal a heavy blow to the entire industrial activities of North Korea and Pyongyang will be forced to make a life-or-death decision once the U.S. launches surgical strikes against the North's nuclear and missile facilities.
 
The Global Times said that if Pyongyang chooses to retaliate against Seoul, the U.S. and South Korea will target its regime without a second thought and no one will be able to stop it once the gamble begins.
  
The newspaper said that Washington hopes that Beijing can contain Pyongyang from conducting its nuclear activities, while North Korea wants China to pile more pressure on the U.S. and South Korea to stop their threats of war. But it concluded that Beijing cannot possibly satisfy both sides.
  
The paper stressed that taking a small step back will make a conflict easier to solve and this does not mean being a coward, but being courageous to face the challenge in a different way.
 
The People’s Daily also warned North Korea against making reckless provocations, saying that the recent frequent communications between the U.S. and Chinese president are aimed at preventing a rapid twist in the situation on the Korean Peninsula. 

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