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)
President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with President Xi Jinping during a welcoming ceremony at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Council of Heads of State in Qingdao, China, on June 10, 2018. (Sergei Guneyev via Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump looks on as Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 7, 2025. (Jim Watson via Getty Images)
Chinese President Xi Jinping waves during a meeting with Vietnam’s Communist Party General Secretary To Lam at the Office of the Party Central Committee in Hanoi on April 14, 2025. (Nhac Nguyen via Getty Images)
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar attend the ceremonial reception of Angola's President Joao Lourenco at the presidential palace Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on May 3, 2025. (Money Sharma via Getty Images)
Wild peach and apricot flowers are in full bloom in Yanqing District, encircling the Longquanyu Great Wall on March 25, 2025, in Beijing. (Hao Jihong via Getty Images)
A robot from AgiBot is seen during the Global Developer Conference, organized by the Shanghai AI Industry Association, in Shanghai on February 21, 2025. (Hector Retamal via Getty Images)
Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a keynote speech during the second China–Central Asia Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, on June 17, 2025. (Huang Jingwen via Getty Images)
President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un following a meeting at the Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel in Hanoi on February 27, 2019. (Getty Images)