China says NKorea tensions reached 'tipping point'

BEIJING: China warned that tensions on the Korean peninsula have reached "tipping point" after North Korea Tuesday fired a ballistic missile over Japan, but said the United States and South Korea are partly to blame.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying urged all sides to avoid provocations and repeated Beijing's call for the North to suspend missile tests in return for a halt to US-South Korean military exercises.