No they didn't.
"Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told reporters that Kim and Tang discussed North Korean-Chinese relations and the current political situation on the Korean Peninsula. “This is a very significant visit, against the backdrop of major changes on the Korean Peninsula. We hope China's diplomatic efforts ... will bear fruit,” Liu said.
No threat there.
The spokesman revealed no details of Hu’s message, saying only that Chinese leaders “maintain their position” on Korean Peninsulas issue when meeting with foreign leaders. North Korea experts believe Hu conveyed the international community’s concerns about the nuclear test to the North Korean leader and urged him to return to the six-way talks as soon as possible to resolve the problem peacefully.
Seems they only tried to relay the message already given by the USA and the UN. Media is just spining the "sorry" story.
I confess I fail to see the specters you do.
Here, since it's well down in the thread now, I'll post the big AP article, the lead story in news.yahoo.com. Really, it's kind of a self-exerpt, of all the news in this, so...
Report: N. Korean leader regrets test
4 minutes ago
SEOUL, South Korea - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il expressed regret about his country's nuclear test to a Chinese delegation and said Pyongyang would return to international nuclear talks if Washington backs off a campaign to financially isolate the country, a South Korean newspaper reported Friday.
"If the U.S. makes a concession to some degree, we will also make a concession to some degree, whether it be bilateral talks or six-party talks," Kim was quoted as telling a Chinese envoy, the mass-circulation Chosun Ilbo reported, citing a diplomatic source in China.
Kim told the Chinese delegation that "he is sorry about the nuclear test," the newspaper reported.
The delegation led by State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan met Kim on Thursday and returned to Beijing later that day -- ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's arrival in the Chinese capital Friday. China is viewed as a key nation in efforts to persuade the North to disarm, as it is the isolated communist nation's main trading partner.
North Korea has long insisted that the U.S. desist from a campaign to sever its ties to the international financial system. Washington accuses Pyongyang of complicity in counterfeiting and money laundering to sell weapons of mass destruction.
The North has refused since last November to return to the nuclear talks, which also include China, Japan, Russia and
South Korea. Pyongyang has sought bolster its negotiating position by a series of provocative actions, test-firing a barrage of missiles in July and performing its first-ever nuclear test Oct. 9.