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)
Chinese Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian speaks at the 2024 Australia-China Economic Cooperation Forum Tasmania, Australia, October 30, 2024. (Zhang Na/Xinhua via Getty Images)
Jimmy Lai Chee-ying arrives at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region before a hearing in his case on May 18, 2020, in Hong Kong, China. (Li Zhihua/China News Service via Getty Images)
Cranes unload cargo shipping containers from the ONE Hannover container ship at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, California, on April 10, 2025. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)