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)
China's guided-missile destroyer Zhanjiang attends the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition on May 26, 2023, in Langkawi, Malaysia. (Zhang Hui via Getty Images)
The US Capitol building is shrouded in haze as smoke from wildfires in Canada brings unhealthy air quality to the East Coast in Washington, DC, on June 7, 2023. ( Aaron Schwartz/Xinhua via Getty Images)
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivers the keynote address during the second Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom in the Loy Henderson Auditorium of the State Department in Washington, DC, on July 18, 2019. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
Kevin McCarthy speaks with Tsai Ing-wen during a bipartisan meeting at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, on April 5, 2023. (Frederic J. Brown via Getty Images)