Thu Sep 27, 9:08 AM ET

BEIJING - China must use its influence with Myanmar's rulers to stop them from cracking down violently on anti-government protesters there, a senior US envoy said here Thursday.

"The use of force will solve nothing, this is about arriving at a political arrangement,"

Christopher Hill, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asian affairs, told reporters.

"All countries need to use all the influence that they have. I think every country has some influence with Burma, and I think China is certainly one of those," he added, referring to Myanmar by its former name.

China, one of the Myanmar junta's closest allies and most important trading partners, has refrained from taking a tough public stand against the generals despite the crackdown on the protesters.

China's UN envoy Wang Guangya said in New York on Wednesday that sanctions against Myanmar's military rulers would not be "helpful."

But China's foreign ministry has urged Myanmar's government to bring about stability, and diplomatic sources in Brussels told AFP that the Chinese have privately advised the junta "not to over-react."

Hill said the United States, China and all countries need to consult closely and do what they could to pressure Myanmar's government not to use violence.

"It's something that all countries need to be very concerned about... to use the influence they have to prevent the Burmese authorities from cracking down on these peaceful protesters.

"We all need to agree on the fact that the Burmese government has to stop thinking that all this can be solved by police and military (action) and start thinking about the need for some genuine reconciliation."

Hill, who is in Beijing for six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons programme, was due to meet with Chinese deputy foreign minister Wu Dawei later Thursday.