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)
Chinese President Xi Jinping with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, Hungary, on May 9, 2024. (Photo by Xie Huanchi/Xinhua via Getty Images)
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken meets with Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, China, on April 26, 2024. (Official State Department photo by Chuck Kennedy)
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks during the United Nations General Assembly on September 20, 2023, in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
President Xi Jinping speaks during a toast at an official state dinner as part of the Chinese president's two-day state visit to France on May 6, 2024. (Photo by Ludovic Marin/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)