"I hope the United States and China do not fight with each other, and I just hope that China does not get in the middle between the North and the South and play one against the other when dealing with North Korean issues."
The border village of Panmunjom, where South and North Korea directly face each other remained quiet on Wednesday, as Chinese President Hu Jintao travelled to the US to discuss security concerns including North Korea's nuclear programme with US President Barack Obama.
The US considers China a vital player in attempts to contain North Korean aggression against South Korea and its development of a nuclear weapon.
Recent flare-ups on the Korean peninsula, which led to military and civilian deaths and massive war exercises, were largely tolerated by China, despite happening in China's backyard.
China also wants the six nations involved in long-stalled disarmament talks return to the table and talk peace.
The six are the US, South Korea, Japan, Russia, China and North Korea.
Tension on the peninsula spiked after North Korea unleashed artillery shells on a front-line South Korean island near their disputed sea border,
killing four people.
The shelling came eight months after a deadly warship sinking that South Korea and the US have blamed on Pyongyang.
The North has denied responsibility for the sinking that killed 46 sailors, and it says the South provoked the island attack with nearby military drills.
The meeting between Hu and Obama also comes as North Korea pushes for unconditional talks with South Korea to ease tensions on the divided
peninsula.
South Korea has consistently dismissed calls by Pyongyang for negotiations and urged the North to show it has changed through actions, not words.
