Washington has said it will seek security council action against Iran over the missile test.
Stephanie Kleinorth-eastdt, north-eAsiaAsia project director for the International Crisis Group, said that even if China backed security council action, it might not prove effective.
On the first point, Russia, France and China are the key countries; any one of them could block security council action by using its veto.
The US has sharply criticised Russia for opposing UN security council action calling on Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, to leave power.
The US, Japan and South Korea say they'll seek UN security council action if the launch goes ahead in defiance of existing resolutions.
"Those opposing UN security council action will have to account to the Syrian people for their actions, which do nothing to help bring an end to the violence that is ravaging the country.
Lebanon declined the invitation but six other Arab countries are said to have accepted, along with Pakistan, Venezuela, India and Kazakhstan, as well as Russia and China, which have vetoed any UN security council action on the crisis.
The UN secretary general told that Guardian that Russia and China should "look beyond national interest" and stop blocking security council action on the conflict in Syria as the flow of refugees to Europe reaches unprecedented levels.
Beijing formally protested, expressed concern over radioactive fallout in areas bordering North Korea, and indicated it would support new, punitive UN security council action as demanded by South Korea, among others.
Furious at what it saw as a deliberate provocation and egged on by a much rattled Japan, the Obama administration has since been seeking additional punitive UN security council action against Pyongyang.
