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)
Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple, speaks during the China Development Forum 2024 at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse on March 24, 2024, in Beijing, China. (Photo by Fu Tian/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)
US President Joe Biden greets Chinese President Xi Jinping before a meeting during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' week in Woodside, California, on November 15, 2023. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
Guests hold Japanese and American flags as they wait for the arrival ceremony for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Mrs. Yuko Kishida of Japan at White House on April 10, 2024, in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik via Getty Images)
Sailors on the USS Green Bay participate in a visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) drill with JS Osumi of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) as part of Exercise Iron Fist near Japan on March 4, 2023. (US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Matthew Cavenaile)
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with representatives from the American business, strategic, and academic communities at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 27, 2024. (Photo by Shen Hong via Getty Images)
President Joe Biden listens to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a press conference at the Camp David Trilateral Summit in Maryland on August 18, 2023. (Photo by Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)