Condoleezza Rice (left) is accompanied by unidentified Chinese officials as the quake-hit area of Dujiangyan

BEIJING : China balked Sunday at US calls for a UN arms embargo on Zimbabwe despite an appeal here by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for immediate strong international action to end political violence there.

Rice and her Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi met in Beijing to discuss US plans to introduce measures this week at the UN Security Council, including both an arms embargo and a travel ban on President Robert Mugabe's regime.

"We believe the situation has deteriorated to a very grave level, but the sham election there is likely to bring only more misery," Rice told a press conference.

"We believe that it is really now time for the international community to act strongly but we are consulting about what measures might be taken," she said.

China is one of the five veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council, along with Russia, the United States, Britain and France.

Rice did not reply when a reporter asked if the US would push for a council vote if China and others failed to back moves for an arms embargo.

Rice also hoped that an African Union meeting in Egypt on Monday would at least issue a "strong caution" to President Robert Mugabe "not to use violence against his own people."

Yang, the Chinese foreign minister, said: "The most pressing task now is to stabilise the situation in Zimbabwe."

Yang expressed the hope that the Zimbabwe government and political opposition will "engage in a serious dialogue to find a proper solution" to the Mugabe government's handling of the March 29 election and June 27 run-off.

In contrast to strong US emphasis for UN Security Council action, Yang said China hopes that the "African countries in particular" play a constructive role in resolving the crisis.

"China, as a responsible country, will play a constructive role in this process," Yang said without elaborating what it might consider.

US President George W. Bush said Saturday he had directed that the sanctions be drawn up by Rice and other US officials against the "illegitimate" government of Zimbabwe after a run-off vote boycotted by the opposition.

During wide-ranging talks here, the diplomats also consulted over international efforts to press Iran into giving up uranium enrichment while they hailed progress made last week for North Korea's nuclear disarmament.

China is a key player in efforts to deal with the nuclear programmes of both countries.

Rice also expressed concerns about China's crackdown in Tibet, while Yang faulted Washington for failing to highlight Beijing's charges that the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, is promoting violent sedition.

At the same time China announced it was resuming talks with the Dalai Lama's representatives, a position supported by Washington.

Yang thanked Rice for the concern she showed the Chinese people earlier Sunday when she visited the site of an earthquake that hit southwest China last month, leaving 88,000 people dead or missing and up to five million displaced.

"I've been tremendously impressed with the recovery, with the resilience of the people," Rice told journalists after touring the wrecked city of Dujiangyan, near the epicentre.

"It is really a sign of how the human spirit can recover from great devastation."

The United States has joined international relief efforts to fly life-saving supplies to the region where towns and villages flattened by the 8.0 magnitude quake.

During her talks with China's leaders, Rice said she will discuss ways to get China's close neighbour and ally Myanmar to accept international aid following a typhoon that slammed the nation in early May.

Rice was set to hold talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao on Monday.