The Cairo Conference (codenamed Sextant), also known as the First Cairo Conference, was one of 14 summit meetings during World War II, which took place on November 22–26, 1943. The Conference was held at Cairo in Egypt between China, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Attended by Chairman of the National Government of China Chiang Kai-shek, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, it outlined the Allied position against the Empire of Japan during World War II and made decisions about post-war Asia.

The Conference agenda was to formulate a strategy to counterattack the Empire of Japan, make arrangements for the post-war international situation and coordinate the counter-attack on Burma and the aid to China. The Cairo Declaration, issued after the conference, demanded Japan's unconditional surrender, the return to China of all occupied lands, and the shaping of a new post-war East Asia.

The Cairo Conference established China's status as one of four world powers, which was of great political and strategic significance to China. Although many of the resolutions and promises made at the conference were not implemented, and the plan of action was repeatedly postponed and changed, the aim of a joint Chinese, British, and American counter-attack on Burma was eventually achieved.

After the outbreak of the Pacific War, the British Empire, the United States, and the Republic of China signed a new treaty, formally renouncing their extraterritoriality in China and upholding China's sovereignty. On January 11, Britain and the United States issued a joint declaration, announcing the abrogation of all unequal treaties against China over the past century. On the other hand, Sino-British relations were not harmonious, as it became apparent that the British sphere of influence in East Asia was crumbling.

In 1942, the Chinese government was both surprised and angry when the British did not agree to the Chinese National Army's military interference in Burma (now Myanmar). China wanted to end imperialism, but British imperialism had a long history. Churchill also held on to the conservative British colonialist mindset and refused to believe that Asians could unite and fight for an Allied victory He was also prejudiced against China and did not want it to become a world power.

Politically, the United Kingdom was both suspicious and contemptuous of China to the point of hoping to isolate it. The British feared that China's strong independence from Western powers could influence independence movements in its Asian colonies, such as India, where discontent was already brewing. They were therefore reluctant to spend material or troops to assist China. Even if both the Kingdom of Italy and Nazi Germany surrendered, the British Navy still preferred to field its spare forces in the Pacific Ocean, rather than Burma. Lord Alan Brooke, the British Chief of Staff, was even more contemptuous of China.

There was a fundamental difference between the British and the Americans in their post-war expectations. Churchill wanted the post-war world to be dominated by the United Kingdom and the United States, but Roosevelt envisioned a new world in which the European colonialists would grant independence to their colonies and shape Woodrow Wilson's vision of self-determination for all countries alike. Furthermore, Roosevelt wanted the Four Policemen (the United States, the British Empire, the Soviet Union, and the Republic of China) to guide and guard the post-war world from potential conflicts. That was partly due to the rise of the Soviet Union, as US military experts became increasingly worried of the Soviet Union losing or making peace with Nazi Germany, since that meant Britain would be defeated as well. The US was not confident of winning the war even if it had mobilised all its forces into the European battlefield. Hence, the US military believed that consolidating relations with the Soviet Union was necessary for victory.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Empire of Japan took control of Southeast Asia, and Burma became the only area in which the Chinese, British, and American military forces could jointly fight the Japanese. Each of their forces were then under their own command and rarely conducted joint military operations. Furthermore, the British commander in India and Chiang Kai-shek had conflicting views on how to counterattack the Japanese in Burma. As such, no real alliance was formed between the three.