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)
An MH-53E Sea Dragon prepares to land on the flight deck of San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS Portland on July 12, 2022, off the coast of Southern California. (US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Devin Kates)
Taiwanese civilians in tactical gear and replica weapons taking part in an urban warfare workshop on June 18 in Linko district, New Taipei City. (Photo by Sam Yeh / AFP)
A Russian Yars intercontinental ballistic missile launcher parades through Red Square during the general rehearsal of the Victory Day military parade in central Moscow on May 7, 2022. (Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)
The transporter erector, used to load Minuteman III ballistic missiles, is raised during an annual proofload test at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, on April 2, 2019. (US Air Force photo by Senior Airman Ashley Boster)
Field artillery cannoneer emplaces M777A2 Howitzer during Artillery Relocation Training Program 21.1, at Combined Arms Training Center, Camp Fuji, Japan, April 26, 2021. (U.S. Marine Corps/ Michael Jefferson Estillomo)
President Tsai Ing-wen gives a speech on Taiwan's National Day in Taipei, Taiwan on October 10, 2020. (Photo by Annabelle Chih/NurPhoto via Getty Images)