North Korea rocket launch to worsen tensions: China's Xinhua

The Korean peninsula cannot be nuclearized or descend into war, the commentary added, saying all parties should deal with the situation calmly to keep it from spinning out of control.

Xinhua commentaries are not official statements from the government, but can shed light on official thinking.

North Korea, which claims its rocket program is aimed at launching satellites, fired the rocket from its missile base on the west coast on Sunday in defiance of U.N. sanctions barring it from using ballistic missile technology.

(Reporting By Megha Rajagopalan and Nick Heath; Editing by Mark Bendeich)