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 and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands during the signing ceremony at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, on March 21, 2023. (Contributor via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Kremlin in Moscow, on December 30, 2022. (Mikhail Klimentyev/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)
Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks at a press event at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China , on October 23, 2022. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)
HMS Queen Elizabeth launches a U.S. Marine Corps F-35B, Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, and JS Kaga in the background as part of Maritime Partnership Exercise in Bay of Bengal, on October 17, 2021. (Russell Lindsey via DVIDS)