Chinese military personnel take part in a rehearsal ahead of a parade commemorating the eightieth anniversary of victory in World War II in Beijing on August 20, 2025. (Pedro Pardo via Getty Images)
Senior lecturer in the Department of Security Studies and Criminology at Macquarie University, Council of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute
US Commerce Secretary Howard William Lutnick and Japanese Minister for Economic Revitalization Ryosei Akazawa shake hands on on September 4, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)
Arleigh Burke–class guided-missile destroyer USS Chafee (DDG 90) sails in formation during the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise on July 28, 2022. (DVIDS)
A formation of Dongfeng-41 nuclear missiles takes part in a military parade celebrating the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in Beijing on October 1, 2019. (Xia Yifang via Getty Images)
Senior lecturer in the Department of Security Studies and Criminology at Macquarie University, Council of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute
A microchip and Taiwanese flag displayed on a phone screen are seen in this multiple exposure illustration photo on April 10, 2023. (Jakub Porzycki via Getty Images)
President Donald Trump holds up a chart while speaking during a trade announcement event at the White House on April 2, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images)
A Boxer wheeled armored infantry vehicle of the German armed forces drives across the Rheinmetall site on May 2, 2024. (Philipp Schulze/picture alliance via Getty Images)
United States and Japanese national flags are displayed outside Palace Hotel Tokyo on May 25, 2019, in Tokyo, Japan. (Tomohiro Ohsumi via Getty Images)
A South Korean Army K1E1 tank crosses a pontoon bridge on the Imjin River during a joint river- crossing exercise as part of the Freedom Shield military drills with US and ROK forces in the border town of Yeoncheon, South Korea, on March 20, 2025. (Getty Images)
A flag-raising ceremony is held during the launching ceremony of China's first Type 076 new-generation amphibious assault ship, the Sichuan, on December 27, 2024, in Shanghai, China. (Pu Haiyang/VCG via Getty Images)