Japan's Takaichi Seeks Trump Meeting Before Xi Summit — SkimNews
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- Takaichi Sanae is hoping to meet Trump during her UN General Assembly visit, aiming to ensure Japan's perspective on China is heard before the September 24 Trump-Xi summit in Washington.
- As of September 17, "nothing has been decided" regarding a Takaichi-Trump meeting; both leaders are scheduled to address the General Debate on September 22.
- Japan's defense white paper warned China is "extending beyond the so-called first island chain to the second island chain," with stepped-up coast guard patrols around Taiwan and continued patrols near the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands.
- Japan scrambled fighters in June after Chinese and Russian aircraft were detected near the Miyako Strait by Okinawa, while the US, Japan, and other states released a joint statement in August criticizing China's "unannounced launch of submarine-based long-range ballistic missile."
- The Iran conflict is draining US Indo-Pacific capacity — a Defense Department inspector general report said the war is depleting critical munitions, and the aircraft carrier USS George Washington has been reassigned from the Indo-Pacific to the Middle East.
- The Yomiuri Shimbun asked in a September editorial: "With the decline in the U.S. military's presence in Asia, aren't China and North Korea taking advantage of this situation?"
- Trump may seek China's cooperation on energy as the Strait of Hormuz closure pushes oil prices higher, with Chinese demand reportedly already exerting a moderating effect on global oil markets.
Why it matters: Japan's central worry is that the US military pivot to the Middle East — including the redeployment of the USS George Washington from the Indo-Pacific and the depletion of key munitions — coincides exactly with Japan's defense white paper warning of Chinese military expansion beyond the first island chain. A Trump-Xi summit that sidelines Tokyo could leave Japan exposed to a widening gap between alliance rhetoric and US operational commitment.
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