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)
Smoke rises after a reported Israeli strike on a building used by the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network, part of Iran's state TV broadcaster, on June 16, 2025, in Tehran, Iran. (Stringer/Getty Images)
President Donald J Trump speaks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House on February 7, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Jabin Botsford via Getty Images)
People walk past a video screen showing a speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Museum of the Communist Party of China in Beijing on March 3, 2023. (Greg Baker via Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks to the press following the NATO summit on June 25, 2025, in The Hague, Netherlands. (Andrew Harnik via Getty Images)
Delegates vote at the closing ceremony of the Twentieth National Congress of the Communist Party of China at the Great Hall of the People on October 22, 2022, in Beijing, China. (Lintao Zhang via Getty Images)
President Xi Jinping attending the opening ceremony of the National People's Congress on March 5, 2025, in Beijing, China. (The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images)