Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang on Wednesday said, “We consistently oppose any country adopting unilateral sanctions based on its own domestic laws and regulations and the wrong method of exercising long-arm jurisdiction.”

Sanctions on 13 companies were triggered after U.S. President Donald Trump designated North Korea a state-sponsor of terrorism. Among the targeted companies was Dongyuan Industrial, which the U.S. Treasury Department said was working with front companies “for weapons of mass destruction-related North Korean organisations.”

Dongyuan was also sanctioned for exporting more than $28 million in goods including items linked to nuclear reactors to North Korea. The Treasury added that three companies alone had engaged in more than $750 million worth of business with the Hermit Kingdom, which involved computers, iron and coal.

Generally speaking, these new sanctions ban companies from using U.S.-linked bank accounts and they prevent foreign firms from doing business with such organizations.

The latest round of sanctions places a strain on what appeared to be a cooling of Sino-American relations. During President Trump’s recent visit to Asia, he urged his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and other leaders to take stronger efforts at curtailing North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Trump even said Xi was working hard on that front. But China remains North Korea’s biggest trading partner, and some analysts believe Washington’s latest move on Chinese companies — even those with suspected ties to terror– may cause Beijing to step back.

“Trump will continue to use trade and investment issues to pressure China on North Korea,” says Shou Huisheng, a researcher with Tsinghua University’s National Strategy Institute, in an interview with the South China Morning Post. “It is a very easy-to-use tactic for Trump, which may help him address the North Korean issue, but at the cost of failing to solve the root causes of the US-China trade imbalance.”

Still, Trump’s latest efforts may ultimately set the stage for a massive internal blow to the North Korean regime, whether China is behind it or not.

The new facility, expected to be in operation by 2020, is set to simulate flight speeds at 12 kilometers per second. A vessel traveling at such speed from China can reach the U.S. in 14 minutes.

The ground structure is meant to help scientists detect potential flaws and find solutions before actual test flights of new hypersonic vehicles commence.

“It will boost the engineering application of hyper-sonic technology, mostly in military sectors, by duplicating the environment of extreme hyper-sonic flights, so problems can be discovered and solved on the ground,” said Zhao Wei, a senior scientist working on the project, in an interview with the South China Morning Post.

Hyper-sonic speed is defined as traveling at least Mach 5 or five times the speed of sound. In March, China conducted seven successful test flights of its hyper-sonic glider WU-14, which travels at speeds between Mach 5 and Mach 10.

Currently, the title for most powerful wind tunnel stands with the United States. The LENX-X facility in Buffalo, New York, simulates speeds of up to 10 kilometers per second or Mach 30.

“China and the US have started a hyper-sonic race,” said Wu Dafang, professor at the school of aeronautic science and engineering at Beihang University in Beijing, in an interview with the South China Morning Post.

But they’re not the only ones with horses in the race. Russia, India and Australia have also tested early prototypes of the WU-14, which could be used to deliver nuclear-armed missiles.

Wu—who has helped develop hyper-sonic cruise missiles, a near space vehicle and other weapons under wraps for the People’s Liberation Army— says existing wind tunnels in mainland China have already helped solidify the success of its hypersonic weapons.

“We had a frank exchange here in China on maritime security issues and the South China Sea,” Tillerson told reporters during President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing on Thursday.” The U.S. position remains unchanged.”

He added, “We insist on upholding freedom of navigation, that claimants be consistent with international law and that claimants should stop construction and militarization of outposts in order to maximize prospects for successful diplomacy.”

China lays claim to virtually the entire area— a strategic waterway through which more than $3 trillion in trade passes through each year, and spotted with islands housing oil and gas fields. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also lay claims to parts of the South China Sea. In the past, China has caught the eye of the international community for creating artificial islands in the region and increasing its military presence there.

The Obama Administration responded to these efforts by sending U.S. warships to conduct freedom of navigation patrols—a move stepped up by President Trump.

The thorny issue is likely to come up as Trump completes his five-nation tour across Asia. He’s set to take part in two regional summits in Vietnam and the Philippines. The latter recently sued China over their claims to the South China Sea. Their view was backed by an international arbitration court. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday he will ask China to come clean with its true intentions in the South China Sea, even though he’s typically brushed the issue aside during his past sixteen months in office.

But according to China’s Foreign Ministry, Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping have expressed a commitment to maintaining peace on the South China Sea.

“Both sides support the protection of freedom of navigation and overflight for all countries, in accordance with international law,” it said in a statement. “The United States has angered China with freedom of navigation patrols close to Chinese-controlled islands in the South China Sea, which have been continued by the Trump administration.”

Some fear that U.S.-Taiwan relations would be downgraded in exchange for a stronger Chinese stance against North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Katherine Chang, the minister for mainland affairs, tells the Washington Post that Taiwan could become a “bargaining chip” in such a case.

Currently, China views Taiwan as a breakaway province and has not ruled out force as a path to reunification. The U.S. has historically backed the “One China Policy” by refusing to diplomatically recognize Taiwan even though it has maintained an unofficial relationship involving trade.

Taiwan was not mentioned by either Trump or Xi during a joint news conference following their meeting on Thursday.

However, a number of Trump’s advisers have been known to be sympathetic to Taiwan’s concerns and grievances. In early December, Trump broke away from decades of tradition by making a congratulatory phone call to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen following her election victory. But, Trump has since said he will not engage with the Taiwanese president again without checking in with China first.

Furthermore, Trump and Xi have been enjoying an improved relationship, with Trump even saying both shared “great chemistry.” During a news conference in South Korea on Tuesday, Trump said Xi had “been trying very hard to solve the problem” with North Korea. In fact, the U.S. president has enjoyed some success where predecessors have failed on the North Korean issue. China, which is Pyongyang’s biggest trading partner, recently agreed to cut coal exports with the nation and sever ties with its banks.

When Trump was defending his call with Tsai Ing-wen, he had said that the U.S. stance on the One China Policy would depend on whether he can “make a deal” with Beijing on trade and other issues.

Still, the U.S. and Taiwan have enjoyed some good relations including a $1.42 billion weapons deal agreed on earlier this year. This is one of the reasons some diplomats feel a major shift in U.S. relations with Taiwan is unlikely.

Taipei is also looking forward to increase defense spending, establish a bi-lateral trade agreement with the U.S., and end all trade with North Korea.

But whether Taiwan can become a bargaining chip in the North Korean issue strongly depends on Xi’s decisions.

“Many have debated here in Taiwan whether President Trump will trade Taiwan in exchange for China’s position in North Korea,” said Alexander Huang, chairman of Taiwan’s Council on Strategic and Wargaming Studies. “But my hunch is that even if President Trump makes such an offer, President Xi would say no: ‘Taiwan is not in your hands. It’s in mine.’”

China said Thursday the United States should “abandon its biased views” towards the country, as it hit back at cutting remarks made by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Ahead of his visit to India next week, President Donald Trump’s top diplomat stated the US preference to work with New Delhi over Beijing during the next…

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China said Wednesday it has lodged a protest with the United States after an American warship sailed near disputed islands in the South China Sea. The US Navy missile destroyer Chafee entered into China’s territorial waters near the Sansha islands on Tuesday, according to Beijing’s foreign ministry. China immediately dispatched military vessels and aircraft for identification…

China’s state run Global Times, which is often filled with nationalistic and pro-military rhetoric, recently ran an editorial calling for peace. It read, “Washington and Pyongyang have been intensifying hostile and threatening rhetoric against each other for some time. Their frequent saber-rattling, unimaginable in the past, is escalating tensions in Northeast Asia,”

No stranger to speaking his mind, President Donald Trump on Saturday issued to North Korea what many called a warning of war. Via a Twitter post, he slammed his predecessors for decades of failed negotiations and monetary incentives that only made the North Korean war machine stronger. “ … agreements violated before the ink was dry, makings fools of U.S. negotiators. Sorry, but only one thing will work!” he Tweeted.

Later on Tuesday, the U.S. sent two Air Force B-1B Lancer Bombers over the Korean peninsula — perhaps even visible from Kim Jong Un’s throne. The Hermit Kingdom has recently come under more sanctions after testing nuclear devices.

But for China, the war games and shouting matches are getting all too real.

Another state-run paper The People’s Daily ran an editorial warning, “War on the Korean Peninsula would be catastrophic, and dialogue remains the best option.” And although the article acknowledged “logic behind Trump’s threats,” it concluded that war can’t be the answer.

A day before that editorial ran, Hua Chunying said at a press conference, “The current situation on the Korean Peninsula remains highly complex and severe. We hope that various parties can strictly observe and implement the UN Security Council resolutions, refrain from provoking each other and aggravating the contradiction, exercise restraint and caution to ease the tension.”

“Chinese leaders see the U.S.-led world order, most notably the U.S. alliance network and promotion of U.S. values worldwide, as constraining China’s rise and are attempting to reshape the world order to better suit Chinese preferences and growing clout,” said an American intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity to Bloomberg.com.

The official cited China’s “One Belt, One Road,” trade initiative, its fierce territorial claims in the conflicted South China Sea, and its ongoing military expansion across the globe as key drivers in Beijing’s push for domination.

In fact, the official revealed China’s announcement to establish a military base in the African region of Djibouti may be just the beginning.

Officials tell Bloomberg, “China has the fastest-modernizing military in the world next to the United States” and this could open “new areas of intersection — and potentially conflicting — security interests between China and the United States and other countries abroad.”

The news comes as U.S. President Donald Trump prepares for his visit to Beijing next month and China’s President Xi Jingping seeks to secure power in the Communist Party Congress. Both men have thus far come to terms on a few issues– namely in response to North Korean aggression.

The Trump Administration has successfully persuaded China to push for stronger sanctions against Pyongyang and to allow investigations into Chinese banks accused of funding the nuclear-armed rogue state.

But in the fields of trade, they come at odds.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross already has initiated an investigation into China’s stainless steel flanges and alleged unfair subsidies. He’s also looking deeply into Beijing’s intellectual property tactics. Stephen Bannon, a former adviser to President Trump, once called the movement of U.S. technology to China America’s biggest economic issue, and warned that “If we don’t get our situation sorted with China, we’ll be destroyed economically.”

“I applaud China for breaking off all banking relationships with North Korea, something that people would have thought unthinkable even two months ago,” Trump said. “I want to thank President Xi.”

For years, China has remained North Korea’s largest trading partner and virtually its only military ally. Beijing’s banks and financial institutions elsewhere have served as a lifeline for the nuclear armed “Hermit Kingdom”– often characterized by a burgeoning military and an impoverished populace.

The Treasury Department recently announced new sanctions on eight North Korean banks, 26 people in China, and three other countries the Trump administration says have been funneling money to the dictatorship.

Speaking before the Rose Garden, Trump called upon the nations of the world to band together against the nuclear threat of North Korea.

“North Korean nuclear weapons and missile development threaten the entire world with unthinkable loss of life,” Trump said. “All nations must act now to ensure the regime’s complete denuclearization.” That has been the diplomatic Holy Grail which none of the former real-estate mogul’s predecessors have ever found.

But, Trump says change is coming.

Beyond tougher sanctions imposed on Pyongyang by the UN within the last two months, the U.S. is also pressuring nations to isolate themselves from North Korea even if its severing the slightest of trade, banking and diplomatic ties.

“I appreciate the United Nations Security Council voting twice, unanimously — 15 to nothing, twice — to adopt hard-hitting resolutions against North Korea,” Trump said Tuesday. “I have recently issued tough new sanctions against those who do business with this outlaw regime. And I applaud China’s latest action to restrict its trade with North Korea.”