As the two most powerful countries in the world today, it is incredibly important that U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington on September 24. But before that, Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae of Japan is hoping to gain a meeting with Trump during her own visit to the United States for the U.N. General Assembly. 

Both Trump and Takaichi are scheduled to address the General Debate in New York on September 22; as of September 17 “nothing has been decided” regarding a potential meeting, according to Takaichi. 

The China-U.S. summit will have broad implications across a variety of policy areas, and there is no shortage of things for Trump and Xi to talk about. But it will be especially important for Japan, given not just its alliance with the United States, but also its close geographic proximity to China. Takaichi thus hopes to meet with Trump and share Japan’s perspective on China, in order to make sure Japanese interests are considered by its foremost partner.

For Japan, China is a significant threat to its national security that needs to be managed with help from the United States. The security environment in the Indo-Pacific region is under pressure as China continues developing its military capabilities. According to Japan’s defense white paper released last month, “China has been intensifying its activities in the region surrounding Japan [and] extending beyond the so-called first island chain to the second island chain.” 

There are numerous examples of China putting pressure on Japan’s national security and ability to respond. It has upped its coast guard patrols around the island of Taiwan, creating a situation that could threaten Japanese security in the event of a contingency. Japan had to deploy fighters after Chinese and Russian planes were detected in airspace close to the Miyako Strait by Okinawa in June. And Beijing continues to send coast guard ships to patrol inside waters surrounding the disputed Senkaku Islands, claimed by China as the Diaoyu. 

While bilateral Sino-Japanese relations have always vacillated over historical disputes and national security concerns, the current state of the relationship is particularly frigid. It is critical for Japan that the United States – its principal ally and partner – stays on the same page regarding the challenge from China.

The U.S. shares some Japanese concerns about China. Like Tokyo, Washington remains concerned about Chinese assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region. The U.S., Japan, and other states released a joint statement in August that was critical of China’s unannounced launch of submarine-based long-range ballistic missile. 

The U.S. continues to participate in multilateral military exercises focused on the Indo-Pacific, hosting the Rim of the Pacific exercises in Hawai’i in July, and participating in the May Balikatan exercises with the Philippines. Official references to the Indo-Pacific region are sparser than during the first Trump administration, but the U.S. continues to share its allies’ concerns about Chinese expansion in the region.

At the same time, there are differences between the U.S. and Japan. The conflict in Iran is arguably the Trump administration’s top priority. A report by the Department of Defense inspector general said the conflict was depleting U.S. supplies of important munitions. It has also necessitated the reassignment of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington to the Middle East from the Indo-Pacific region. 

Trump is not a Sinophile, and the U.S. continues to have interests at odds with China’s. But the long-term competition with China may not be as prominent in the mind of Trump, who is bogged down in Iran and related problems. He may be looking for China’s help to ameliorate the worst economic impacts of the war. For example, although the price of oil continues to rise because of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, lowered Chinese demand is believed to have a moderating effect on the global oil market. 

To be sure, Washington can talk and chew gum at the same time. And it is not uncommon for allies to have different priorities in diplomacy. This means that the real question is to what extent the U.S. president will take into consideration the equities and viewpoints of allies like Japan. If there is a mismatch in those expectations, it will be critical for the alliance to deal with that friction. 

Two years into his second term, Trump seems to have established a cordial relationship with Takaichi. The broader alliance also remains a firm and important part of national security and diplomacy for both sides. But Japanese wariness about the upcoming Trump-Xi summit and its implications for the Indo-Pacific region are palpable. “With the decline in the U.S. military’s presence in Asia, aren’t China and North Korea taking advantage of this situation?” asked the Yomiuri Shimbun in a September editorial. 

It is difficult to see a major or irreversible rift developing between Washington and Tokyo. But a China-U.S. summit that leaves Japan’s interests out in the cold will be an unneeded challenge for the alliance at a critical time.

Takaichi undoubtedly knows that Trump is a free agent, and that he will do whatever he thinks will “make America great again.” When she meets with Trump ahead of his summit with Xi, her challenge will be to impress upon the U.S. president Japan’s perspective and why it is critical for the Japan-U.S. alliance to continue functioning at a close level. Although the alliance remains strong, a failure to coordinate could lead to friction in this relationship despite its importance to both Washington and Tokyo.