Chong Sho-Hu, who is a professor of international relations at the Renmin University, in Beijing, said North Korea was "seeking death".

He also confirmed the long-lasting era of Chinese friendship with North Korea has ended. 

Despite historic ties between the two countries, president Xi Jinping has reportedly become "fed up" with the erratic behaviour of the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un. 

Speaking to the BBC, the professor warned that one more missile test would be the move "to push the country off the cliff". 

President Jinping was said to be "boiling with fury" after North Korea recently tested a missile just as China was gearing up to host a pivotal global economic conference. 

The former US ambassador to China Max Baucus recently claimed the only time he saw the Chinese leader use "undiplomatic language" was in relation to Kim Jong-Un.

Professor Sho-Hu, who has ties to China's defence and foreign affairs establishment, suggested that the time may have come for a military solution to the problem. 

He said: "The Chinese government is mad, China's top leader is mad. China wants to punish North Korea.

"China once had special relations with the Soviet Union but they had war with that country.