China has called for “emergency consultations” by members of the six-party talks with North Korea to cool tensions over Pyongyang’s shelling of a South Korean island on Tuesday, which killed four people.

Beijing’s call for a resumption of diplomacy early next month came hours after the US sent warships into the Yellow Sea yesterday to deliver a show of force to Pyongyang, in a deployment that irritates China.

The Chinese announcement comes amid mounting pressure on Beijing to take steps to restrain its North Korean neighbour, which relies heavily on aid from China to survive. But it was unclear whether the promise of a special emergency session could quell dissatisfaction in Washington and Seoul about the six-party process. The US and South Korea argue that Pyongyang has used the talks in the past to buy time to further its atomic know-how.