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)
U.S. President Donald Trump attends a news conference following his second summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on February 28, 2019 in Hanoi, Vietnam. (Tuan Mark/Getty Images)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel deliberates with U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the official agenda on the second day of the G7 summit on June 9, 2018 in Charlevoix, Canada. (Jesco Denzel /Bundesregierung/Getty Images)
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on February 22, 2019. (HOW HWEE YOUNG/AFP/Getty Images)
North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un walks with U.S. President Donald Trump during a break in talks at their historic US-North Korea summit, in Singapore on June 12, 2018. (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcoming ceremony prior to the dinner on September 4, 2017 in Xiamen, China. (Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)
U.S.Vice President Mike Pence shakes hands with Indonesia's President Joko Widodo during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 33rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Singapore on November 14, 2018. (ATHIT PERAWONGMETHA/AFP)
U.S. President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping arrive at a business leaders event inside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on November 9, 2017. (NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images)
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announces Steve Biegun as special representative to North Korea at the State Department in Washington, DC, on August 23, 2018. (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference after the meeting with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un at the Capella Hotel on June 12, 2018 in Singapore. (Liu Zhen/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)