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)
A Vietnamese fisheries surveillance force vessel (R) is chased by Chinese Maritime Police Bureau ships on May 27, 2014 (Photo by The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images)
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) during their joint press conference in the Grand Kremlin Palace on May 8, 2015 in Moscow, Russia. (Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images)
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) conducts a vertical replenishment at sea in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility, South China Sea, July 8, 2012. (U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Declan Barnes/Released)
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro (R) with Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) at the Great Hall of the People on January 7, 2015 in Beijing, China. (Andy Wong-Pool/Getty Imgaes)