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)
Pro-Taiwan independence activists protest outside the Taoyuan International Airport as they hold a banner reading "Ma Ying-jeou don't be a traitor!" before Taiwan's former president Ma Ying-jeou leaves for a visit to China, in Taoyuan on April 1, 2024.
A US Air Force B-52 Stratofortress flies in formation over the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt on February 24, 2024, in the Philippine Sea. (US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Thomas Gooley)
US and Korean soldiers prepare for take off during an air assault mission as part of exercise Freedom Shield 24 on March 13, 2024, at Wonju Air Base in South Korea. (US Army Photo by KPfc. Lee Hyun Bin)
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Murasame-class destroyer JS Inazuma in the Philippine Sea on February 16, 2022. (US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Alonzo Martin-Frazier)