With Japan’s new leader refusing to back down from China’s show of force and claims on Taiwan, Xi Jinping picks up the phone to try to pry the U.S.-Japan alliance apart.

China and Japan are two of Asia’s most powerful nations and the region’s biggest trading partners. Yet centuries of intense rivalry mean their economic embrace can never be taken for granted.

China is trying to impose economic costs on Japan for wading into the issue of Taiwan. But experts say the escalating dispute could ultimately hurt China too.

HONG KONG -- China will suspend imports of Japanese seafood, according to ABC News partner NHK, escalating a diplomatic dispute triggered by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s recent comments suggesting Tokyo could take military action if China attacks Taiwan.

Japan and China recently agreed to cooperate more economically. Now, climbing tensions are threatening that cooperation.

Japan will likely lean more heavily on the US and its allies if China escalates economic pressure, as Tokyo seeks to navigate the fallout from Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks linking Taiwan’s security to its own.

Trump’s back-to-back calls with Xi and Takaichi did nothing to temper Beijing’s pressure campaign on Tokyo over Taiwan.

Japan has sent a letter to the UN secretary-general to rebut China's assertions over Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae's remarks on Taiwan.