BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese President Hu Jintao has demanded senior Communist Party officials stifle tensions over the ousting of ambitious politician Bo Xilai and show unity as they prepare for a change of leadership, sources briefed on recent meetings said.

Hu urged the party to close ranks at a meeting of about 200 officials early this month at a Beijing hotel, declaring the downfall of Bo – China’s biggest political scandal in two decades – to be an “isolated case”, the three sources said.

The sources’ comments represent the first confirmation of speculation that Hu recently intervened to prevent a wider rift in the party and to resist pressure from some elements for a wider purge of the populist Bo’s policies and supporters.

Bo, former party chief of Chongqing city, was suspended from the party’s top ranks in April after his wife became a suspect in the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood. Before the scandal broke, Bo had been seen as a candidate to join China’s new top leadership team to be unveiled this year.

“It’s been settled that this will be dealt with as a criminal case, not a political case,” said one of the sources, a retired official. “The central leadership wants to focus on ensuring a stable environment for the 18th Party Congress, so the guiding policy is to end all the rumours and contention.”

The party congress, scheduled to be held late this year, will appoint a new generation of leaders. Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao will then step down from their government posts at the National People’s Congress in early 2013, when Vice President Xi Jinping is likely to succeed Hu as president.

The sources, all with ties to senior party officials, spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid possible recriminations for speaking about internal party discussions.

BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese President Hu Jintao has demanded senior Communist Party officials stifle tensions over the ousting of ambitious politician Bo Xilai and show unity as they prepare for a change of leadership, sources briefed on recent meetings said.

Hu urged the party to close ranks at a meeting of about 200 officials early this month at a Beijing hotel, declaring the downfall of Bo – China’s biggest political scandal in two decades – to be an “isolated case”, the three sources said.

The sources’ comments represent the first confirmation of speculation that Hu recently intervened to prevent a wider rift in the party and to resist pressure from some elements for a wider purge of the populist Bo’s policies and supporters.

Bo, former party chief of Chongqing city, was suspended from the party’s top ranks in April after his wife became a suspect in the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood. Before the scandal broke, Bo had been seen as a candidate to join China’s new top leadership team to be unveiled this year.

“It’s been settled that this will be dealt with as a criminal case, not a political case,” said one of the sources, a retired official. “The central leadership wants to focus on ensuring a stable environment for the 18th Party Congress, so the guiding policy is to end all the rumors and contention.”

The party congress, scheduled to be held late this year, will appoint a new generation of leaders. Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao will then step down from their government posts at the National People’s Congress in early 2013, when Vice President Xi Jinping is likely to succeed Hu as president.

The sources, all with ties to senior party officials, spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid possible recriminations for speaking about internal party discussions.

BEIJING (Reuters) – China has been quietly and gently pressuring North Korea to scrap plans for a third nuclear test, said two sources with knowledge of closed-door discussions between the countries, but there is no indication how the North will react.

If North Korea goes ahead with the test, China would consider taking some retaliatory steps, but they would not be substantive, a source with ties to Pyongyang and Beijing told Reuters.

North Korea has almost completed preparations for the test, Reuters reported in late April, a step that would further isolate the impoverished state after last month’s failed rocket launch that the United States says was a ballistic missile test.

“China is unhappy … and urged North Korea not to conduct a nuclear test near Changbai Mountain,” said the source, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.

China feared a radiation leak and damage to the environment from a blast, the source added.

“China also complained about the environmental damage to the area after the first two tests.”

When North Korea conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, it caused environmental damage to the mountain straddling the border with China. North Korea ceded part of the mountain to China in 1963.

BEIJING (Reuters) – China has been quietly and gently pressuring North Korea to scrap plans for a third nuclear test, said two sources with knowledge of closed-door discussions between the countries, but there is no indication how the North will react.

If North Korea goes ahead with the test, China would consider taking some retaliatory steps, but they would not be substantive, a source with ties to Pyongyang and Beijing told Reuters.

North Korea has almost completed preparations for the test, Reuters reported in late April, a step that would further isolate the impoverished state after last month’s failed rocket launch that the United States says was a ballistic missile test.

“China is unhappy … and urged North Korea not to conduct a nuclear test near Changbai Mountain,” said the source, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.

China feared a radiation leak and damage to the environment from a blast, the source added.

“China also complained about the environmental damage to the area after the first two tests.”

When North Korea conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, it caused environmental damage to the mountain straddling the border with China. North Korea ceded part of the mountain to China in 1963.

BEIJING (Reuters) – China has been quietly and gently pressuring North Korea to scrap plans for a third nuclear test, said two sources with knowledge of closed-door discussions between the countries, but there is no indication how the North will react.

If North Korea goes ahead with the test, China would consider taking some retaliatory steps, but they would not be substantive, a source with ties to Pyongyang and Beijing told Reuters.

North Korea has almost completed preparations for the test, Reuters reported in late April, a step that would further isolate the impoverished state after last month’s failed rocket launch that the United States says was a ballistic missile test.

“China is unhappy … and urged North Korea not to conduct a nuclear test near Changbai Mountain,” said the source, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.

China feared a radiation leak and damage to the environment from a blast, the source added.

“China also complained about the environmental damage to the area after the first two tests.”

When North Korea conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, it caused environmental damage to the mountain straddling the border with China. North Korea ceded part of the mountain to China in 1963.

BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) – A push by Chinese President Hu Jintao to shrink the size of the nation’s nine-member leadership body, as revealed by Reuters this week, could have far-reaching implications for his anointed successor and for future economic and political reform.

Outgoing leaders in China can cast a long shadow, and Hu’s desire to cut the politburo standing committee to seven in the twilight of his decade-old administration has fuelled talk that he wants his allies to influence the next one to preserve his legacy.

Sources familiar with the party’s deliberations say Hu is calculating that his party allies would have a better chance of becoming the single biggest voice in a smaller version of the grouping, which typically calls the shots by consensus.

Hu and his standing committee are due to step down in March after a new line-up, almost certain to be headed by current Vice President Xi Jinping, is unveiled this year – though sources familiar with party deliberations say debate over the size of the committee could push the announcement to as late as January.

Delay would add to the unusual uncertainty that has already begun to creep into Chinese politics, which has been dogged this year by its biggest political scandal in two decades.

Willy Lam, a Hong Kong-based China expert, said Hu appeared to be trying to stack more allies from his Communist Youth League on the next committee, given they seemed to have been reserved at least three seats in the new line-up anyway.

If Hu’s camp secures three seats in a standing committee of seven, it would be guaranteed a strong voice because none of the other factional interests is seen likely to hold more.

BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) – A push by Chinese President Hu Jintao to shrink the size of the nation’s nine-member leadership body, as revealed by Reuters this week, could have far-reaching implications for his anointed successor and for future economic and political reform.

Outgoing leaders in China can cast a long shadow, and Hu’s desire to cut the politburo standing committee to seven in the twilight of his decade-old administration has fuelled talk that he wants his allies to influence the next one to preserve his legacy.

Sources familiar with the party’s deliberations say Hu is calculating that his party allies would have a better chance of becoming the single biggest voice in a smaller version of the grouping, which typically calls the shots by consensus.

Hu and his standing committee are due to step down in March after a new line-up, almost certain to be headed by current Vice President Xi Jinping, is unveiled this year – though sources familiar with party deliberations say debate over the size of the committee could push the announcement to as late as January.

Delay would add to the unusual uncertainty that has already begun to creep into Chinese politics, which has been dogged this year by its biggest political scandal in two decades.

Willy Lam, a Hong Kong-based China expert, said Hu appeared to be trying to stack more allies from his Communist Youth League on the next committee, given they seemed to have been reserved at least three seats in the new line-up anyway.

If Hu’s camp secures three seats in a standing committee of seven, it would be guaranteed a strong voice because none of the other factional interests is seen likely to hold more.

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s ruling Communist Party is seriously considering a delay in its upcoming five-yearly congress by a few months amid internal debate over the size and makeup of its top decision-making body, sources said, as the party struggles to finalize a once-in-a-decade leadership change.

The two most senior posts, of president and premier, are not considered in much doubt. But any delay in the congress, no matter the official reason, would likely fuel speculation of infighting over the remaining seats in the nine-member politburo standing committee which calls the shots in China.

The makeup of those remaining positions could in turn influence the ability of the incoming new president, Xi Jinping, to forge a consensus among those immediately below him on how to run the world’s second-largest economy and a military superpower.

Delay could also further unnerve global financial markets whose perception of Chinese politics as a well-oiled machine has already been shaken this year by the extraordinary downfall of an ambitious senior leader, Bo Xilai, in a murder scandal.

The top party leaders are considering a proposal to move the 18th congress, originally scheduled for September or October, to between November and January, three sources said, in a step that has been taken twice before in the past five congresses.

The delay would primarily aim to shorten the transition for the new leaders, who will be announced at the congress but are not due to start in their new state roles until March 2013, said the sources, who all have knowledge of the party’s deliberations.

One source said a delay would also give time for debate over the size of the standing committee, with current President Hu Jintao’s allies wanting it cut to seven, of which they would likely hold a majority, and others wanting it expanded to 11 to accommodate rival factions.

BEIJING (Reuters) – North Korea has almost completed preparations for a third nuclear test, a senior source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing said, an act that would draw further international condemnation following a failed rocket launch.

The isolated and impoverished state sacrificed the chance of closer ties with the United States when it launched the long-range rocket on April 13 and was censured by the U.N. Security Council, which includes the North’s sole major ally, China.

Critics say the rocket launch was aimed at honing the North’s ability to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the United States, a move that would dramatically increase its military and diplomatic heft.

Now the North appears to be about to carry out a third nuclear test after two in 2006 and 2009.

“Soon. Preparations are almost complete,” the source told Reuters when asked whether North Korea was planning to conduct a nuclear test.

This is the first time a senior official has confirmed the planned test and the source has correctly predicted events in the past, telling Reuters about the 2006 test days before it happened.

The rocket launch and nuclear test come as Kim Jong-un, the third of his line to rule North Korea, seeks to cement his grip on power.

BEIJING (Reuters) – North Korea has almost completed preparations for a third nuclear test and has the capacity to carry it out “soon,” a senior source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing told Reuters.

“Soon. Preparations are almost complete,” the source said when asked whether North Korea was planning to undertake a nuclear test.

North Korea said last week it was ready to retaliate in the face of international condemnation over this month’s failed rocket launch, increasing the likelihood the hermit state will push ahead with a third nuclear test in defiance of U.N. sanctions.

The source has correctly predicted events in the past, telling Reuters about North Korea’s first nuclear test in 2006 days before it took place.

This is the first time an official with knowledge of Pyongyang’s intentions has confirmed the test is set to happen.

South Korean newspapers have quoted officials in Seoul as saying the test could take place as early as in two weeks.

The source did not specify whether the test would be a third test using plutonium or whether Pyongyang would use highly enriched uranium.