<p>China is inarguably North Korea&rsquo;s most important trade partner and most powerful ally. ;</p>
<p>Earlier this year, ;China suspended coal imports from North Korea in response to growing pressure from President Trump to help the US quell Kim Jong-un&rsquo;s aggression and resolve the nuclear standoff. China has also used state media to increase the pressure on Pyongyang to halt its missile tests. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;China will not allow its northeastern region to be contaminated by North Korea&rsquo;s nuclear activities,&rdquo; announced the nationalist tabloid<em> Global Times. ;</em>In recent days, the publication has also warned that China would strike back &ldquo;at any side that crosses the red line&rdquo; and would enact an oil embargo if North Korea conducts another missile test. ;</p>
<p>In response, North Korea has ;warned that China&rsquo;s &ldquo;reckless remarks&rdquo; about its nuclear program could trigger &ldquo;grave&rdquo; consequences.</p>
<p>This threat, issued by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KNCA), comes alongside a ;shift in Chinese public opinion as businessmen and politicians start to view Pyongyang as a liability &ndash; especially if its behavior leads to unwelcome US interference in northeast Asia.  ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;China should no longer try to test the limits of the DPRK&rsquo;s patience,&rdquo; reads the KNCA commentary. &ldquo;China had better ponder over the grave consequences to be entailed by its reckless act of chopping down the pillar of the DPRK-China relations.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>Cheong Seong-chang, an analyst at South Korea&rsquo;s Sejong Institute, says Pyongyang&rsquo;s discontent with China seems to be on the &ldquo;verge of exploding.&rdquo; He predicts the North will ignore China for the time being, instead focusing on its relationship with Russia and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who was sworn in this Wednesday. ;</p>
<p>Moon seeks to find peace with his northern neighbor, and has vowed that he will fly to Washingotn, Beijing, Tokyo, and &#8211; &ldquo;under the right conditions&#8221; &#8211; to Pyongyang in order to do so. ;</p>
<p>Meanwhie, the ;CIA has responded to North Korae&#8217;s threat by opening a new ;mission center that will be tasked solely with monitoring ;the peninsula. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Creating the Korea Mission Center allows us to more purposefully integrate and direct CIA efforts against the serious threats to the United States and its allies emanating from North Korea,&rdquo; said CIA Director Mike Pompeo. ;</p>
<p>Despite the Chinese media&#8217;s increased ;criticisms and threats against North Korea, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang says that China&rsquo;s position on &ldquo;developing good neighborly and friendly cooperation with North Korea is also consistent and clear.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Others ;have dismissed the media&#8217;s activity as irrelevant. &ldquo;Currently, we&rsquo;ve seen more cooperation between China and US to put pressure on North Korea,&rdquo; explains nuclear policy expert Zhao Tong. &ldquo;But drama between the two countries&rsquo; state media does not mean changes of policies on the government level.&rdquo; ;</p>