Tokyo Pushes for a Trump Stopover Before the Beijing Summit With Xi

Tokyo is in a hurry. Japanese officials are trying to arrange a Donald Trump stopover in Tokyo on his way to Beijing, where he is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in mid-May 2026. The point of the stopover is straightforward: to get a Trump-Takaichi meeting on the calendar before the US president sits down with Xi.

Why Tokyo is anxious

Two reasons. First, US-Japan relations: Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has not met Trump in person as prime minister, and Japan's diplomatic playbook leans heavily on personal-level relationships at the leader level. Second, content: Japanese officials worry that a Trump-Xi deal could include implicit understandings on Taiwan, semiconductor exports or US troop posture in the western Pacific that affect Japan without consulting Tokyo first.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in pre-summit talks that the two countries should "prepare for important high-level exchanges" but that Taiwan "remains the biggest point of risk in bilateral relations." That is exactly the topic Tokyo wants Trump to hear from Takaichi on first.

What Takaichi wants to put in front of Trump

Three asks. Reaffirmation of US commitments to the Senkaku islands and to extended deterrence in the Western Pacific. Coordination on semiconductor export controls, particularly with respect to advanced lithography equipment. And — given the parallel Iran war — coordination on Strait of Hormuz energy security, where Japan has an outsized stake. Takaichi has already engaged Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian directly to urge safe passage of Japanese-owned tankers.

The fallback

If the stopover does not materialise, Takaichi and Trump will hold a phone call, almost certainly during Trump's transit. Tokyo will treat that as a clearly second-best outcome. Phone calls are reactive; in-person meetings let Japanese diplomacy do what it does best, which is to attach to the principal and stay there.

Why this matters in Europe

The US-China summit will set the geopolitical weather for the second half of 2026. Whatever Trump and Xi say on Taiwan, on the Iran war, on technology controls and on global tariffs will land hard on European industrial planning, particularly in semiconductors, automotive and pharmaceuticals. Tokyo's lobbying for early access is, in functional terms, a stand-in for what every G7 capital would like — a chance to shape the framing before the principals lock anything in.