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)
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)
Xi Jinping delivers a keynote speech in virtual format at the opening ceremony of the BRICS Business Forum, June 22, 2022. (Photo by Ju Peng/Xinhua via Getty Images)
Xi Jinping addresses the opening of a study session at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee attended by provincial and ministerial-level officials, Jan. 11, 2022. (Photo by Wang Ye/Xinhua via Getty Images)
Soldiers from China's People's Liberation Army march on Red Square during a military parade in Moscow on June 24, 2020. (Photo by Pavel Golovkin/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
The Taiwanese container ship Ever Greet next to a vessel of China's state owned COSCO shipping company in the Rotterdam harbor on March 2, 2022. (Photo by Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)
Japanese PM Fumio Kishida, Australian PM Anthony Albanese, U.S. President Joe Biden, and Indian PM Narendra Modi during the Quad Fellowship Founding Celebration event on May 24, 2022 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images)
U.S. President Joe Biden, Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi attend the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity in Tokyo on May 23, 2022. (Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)