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 view of the Presidential Office Building in Taipei, which was previously the office of the governor-general of Taiwan during Japanese colonial rule. (Walid Berrazeg/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Members of the US Army's 11th Airborne Division and the Indian Army's 71st Mountain Brigade stand at parade rest during a rehearsal prior to the closing ceremony for bilateral training exercise Yudh Abhyas 2022 in Auli, India, on December 2, 2022. (US Army Photo by Christopher Dennis)
People watch a television broadcast showing a file image of a North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un at the Seoul Railway Station on June 5, 2022, in Seoul, South Korea. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
HMS Queen Elizabeth launches a U.S. Marine Corps F-35B, Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, and JS Kaga in the background as part of Maritime Partnership Exercise in Bay of Bengal, on October 17, 2021. (Russell Lindsey via DVIDS)
Chinese President Xi Jinping inspects China's Central Military Commission joint operations command center on November 8, 2022. (Photo by Li Gang/Xinhua via Getty Images)