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)
Ships from the US, Japan, and Republic of Korea conduct a trilateral ballistic missile defense exercise in the Sea of Japan, on October 6, 2022. (US Navy Photo by Gray Gibson)
Missiles fire over the Caspian Sea during the Caucasus-2020 military drills between Iran, China, Russia, Pakistan, Myanmar, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Belarus, on September 23, 2020. (Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images)
Thai anti-government protesters hold up a three-fingered salute during a rally against restrictions on political speech on October 31, 2021, in Bangkok, Thailand. (Lauren DeCicca via Getty Images)
A woman walks past a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test in Seoul, South Korea, on November 3, 2022. (Jung Yeon-je/AFP via Getty Images)
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan leads a mass formation of ships from Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, France, Canada, Australia, and the US during Rim of the Pacific drills in the Pacific on July 24, 2010. (US Navy photo by Robert Taylor)
US soldiers coordinate boat movement during a wet-gap crossing operation as part of joint military drills Dęblin, Poland, on May 13, 2022. (Army National Guard Photo)
A man walks past portraits of Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and current President Xi Jinping at Yanan Revolutionary Memorial Hallin Yanan, China, on October 15, 2022. (Jade Gao/AFP via Getty Images)