BEIJING — The Chinese government’s approach to North Korea appears to be the subject of heightened debate ignited by the North’s plans to proceed with a nuclear test, Chinese and American experts say.

A blunt article in Global Times, an influential newspaper that sometimes reflects Chinese government thinking, said that North Korea must “pay a heavy price” if it proceeds with the test, which would be its third. Zhang Liangui, a specialist in North Korean affairs who advises the Communist Party Central Committee, wrote that North Korea was not afraid of China’s threats on aid and wanted to force a “showdown” on the nuclear issue.

North Korea is secretive about the date for the test that it has broadly advertised. Given its propensity for significant calendar days, experts say possibilities include Tuesday, the day of President Obama’s State of the Union address, or Saturday to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Kim Jong-il, the father of the current leader, Kim Jong-un.

The test poses a major foreign policy challenge to Xi Jinping, the new head of the Communist Party, who has said he wants the United States and China to develop a “new type of relationship between two great powers.”