The Chinese government reportedly cut-off its essential oil shipments to North Korea this month, strangling Kim Jong Un’s communist regime of crucial energy supplies as crippling UN sanctions begin to take hold.

According to Reuters, China halted its energy exports to the hermit kingdom in November; clamping-down on oil, diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel. Beijing also ceased importing material from Pyongyang to comply with the UN resolution, saying they turned-down shipments of iron ore, lead, and coal from Kim’s regime.

“As a principle, China has consistently fully, correctly, conscientiously and strictly enforced relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions on North Korea. We have already established a set of effective operating mechanisms and methods,” said a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Earlier this year, the United States and its allies passed devastating sanctions against North Korea following multiple nuclear tests and intercontinental ballistic missile launches. Kim’s most recent launch demonstrated his ability to strike major American cities with nuclear warheads.

In response, dictator Kim Jong Un accused the UN of enacting a “declaration of war against the DPRK,” saying a full nuclear-exchange with the United States was not a question of “if”… but “when.”