German diplomats are urgently negotiating with the Chinese authorities over the fate of 15 North Koreans holed up in a school run by the German embassy in Beijing.

There is confusion over whether the compound is regarded as German turf under a 1963 convention on diplomatic relations which stipulates embassy territory as "inviolable".

If it is, Chinese police cannot enter it without permission.

There are close contacts between the German embassy and the Chinese officials. Each side is interested in coming to a good solution

German embassy official

The group scaled a two metre- (6.6 feet-) high wall and entered the school compound in an apparent asylum bid on Tuesday afternoon.

They spent the night in one of the school buildings and were provided with blankets, water and food, embassy officials said.

The embassy has not said whether the group, men and women mainly aged in their 30s and 40s, have asked for asylum yet.

"There are close contacts between the German embassy and the Chinese officials. Each side is interested in coming to a good solution," one embassy official said.

Police stand-off

Since March at least 80 North Korean asylum seekers have entered foreign embassies in the Chinese capital, but this is the first time they have entered a school.

As the talks to end the complex diplomatic stand-off continue Chinese police have surrounded the school, where all classes have been cancelled.

So far the police have made no attempt to enter the compound.

Legal quagmire

Some legal experts argue that the school is not covered by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, which defines the protected territory as that "used exclusively for the purpose of the consular post".

On Monday police blocked another asylum bid

The compound is located several kilometres from the German embassy and as well as the school it contains a number of residential buildings, but no consular post.

But one Western diplomat in Beijing told AFP that in order to prevent Chinese nationals entering such compounds China usually gives them diplomatic status in the leases they agree with foreign embassies.

The incident is just the latest in a number of attempts by North Koreans to force their way into foreign diplomatic compounds and claim asylum.

Asylum headache

Tens of thousands of North Koreans have fled starvation and repression in their homeland and slipped over land borders to China during recent years.

China has a treaty with its ally North Korea which requires it to send them back to the hard-line Communist state.

But many previous North Koreans who have claimed asylum have been flown to South Korea via third countries.

Correspondents say this may be a likely solution as both sides will be keen to avoid the potentially embarrassing scene of Chinese police forcibly removing the Koreans.