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 President Xi Jinping (R) meets with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump in the latter's Florida resort of Mar-a-Lago in the United States, April 6, 2017. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang via Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump (L) sits with Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) during a bilateral meeting at the Mar-a-Lago estate in West Palm Beach, Florida, on April 6, 2017. (JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)
A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor is launched from a THAAD battery located on Wake Island, during Flight Test Operational (FTO)-02 Event 2a, November 1, 2015. (Missile Defense Agency)
(L) General Douglas MacArthur signs the formal surrender on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, September 2, 1945 (US Navy/Released) (R) Chinese communist guerrilla leader Mao Tse-Tung, November 12, 1944. (Fox Photos/Getty Images)
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks during a joint press conference with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on March 18, 2017. (LINTAO ZHANG/AFP/Getty Images)
The launch of four ballistic missiles by the Korean People's Army (KPA) during a military drill at an undisclosed location in North Korea, March 7, 2017. (KCNA/STR/AFP/Getty Images)