Senior Chinese diplomat: China must take necessary countermeasures to protect its interests

A senior Chinese diplomat, Wang Yi was out with some trade-related comments in the last hour, via Reuters, saying that the US forced China into a trade war and China must take necessary countermeasures to protect its interests.
 
The comments, however, did little to influence the prevalent cautious mood around equity markets, or provide any meaningful impetus to the USD/JPY pair.