China's official news agency, Xinhua, characterized the call between Mr. Mnuchin and Mr. Liu as confrontational, with Mr. Liu warning Mr. Mnuchin that America's trade actions against China were
straining economic ties between the countries.
The China phenomenon is frequently depicted at official and unofficial levels as having put European - US
ties under
strain, mostly arising from a confluence of the growing significance of Asia in US
economic and strategic policy; Europe's political and
economic malaise; and China's more confident and assertive external policies that include the prospect of enhanced financial and
economic ties between major European countries and China.