Xi-Trump phone call, reaction to Beijing’s military parade: 7 US-China relations reads
From businesses decimated by tariffs to global order fracturing, here are highlights from the SCMP’s overseas correspondents in September 2025
1. Global order fracturing, status quo unlikely to return, EU warns in new report
After months of being pummelled with trade tariffs and security threats from the United States and years of pushing back against a rising China, the European Union in September sounded a death knell for the global rules-based order.
2. Xi and Trump frame phone call in positive terms, but offer few details
In September, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his American counterpart Donald Trump spoke by phone for the third time this year, capping off a string of high-level US-China engagements.
3. Asian-American businesses are being decimated by Trump tariffs, Democratic lawmakers warn
Businesses owned by Asian-Americans are struggling with mounting costs as a result of Trump’s tariffs, with some potentially being forced to shut down, a group of Democratic lawmakers warned in September, as they urged the administration to reverse the duties.