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)
Bishop Stephen Chow waves to church members at the Episcopal Ordination of the Most Reverend Stephen Chow in Hong Kongs Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on December 4, 2021. (Photo by Bertha Wang/AFP via Getty Images)
Yoon Suk-yeol, then presidential candidate of South Korea's main opposition People Power Party (PPP), speaks during a news conference at the party's headquarters on January 24, 2022, in Seoul, South Korea. (Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping via a video link at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on December 15, 2021. (Photo by Mikhail Metzel/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)
Then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks during a press conference at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo on August 28, 2020. (Photo by STR/JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images)
Protesters hold signs expressing their opinion during a protest against Russia's military invasion of Ukraine at the Liberty square in Taipei. (Photo by Walid Berrazeg/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)