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 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
Indian army convoy carrying reinforcements and supplies, drive towards Leh, on a highway bordering China, on September 2, 2020 in Gagangir, India. (Yawar Nazir via Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump listens as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during a joint press conference in the East Room at the White House on February 13, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong via Getty Images)
A prison van carrying Jimmy Lai arrives at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts for the closing arguments in his national security trial in Hong Kong on August 18, 2025. (Man Hei Leung via Getty Images)
A Chinese national flag is seen in the foreground with container ships, cranes, and stacked shipping containers at the Yantian International Container Terminal under cloudy skies in Shenzhen, China. (Cheng Xin viaGetty Images)
An F/A-18E Super Hornet takes off from the flight deck the USS George Washington while underway in the Timor Sea on July 15, 2025, during Talisman Sabre, the largest bilateral military exercise between Australia and the United States. (US Navy photo)
Qinglong humanoid robots sort goods at a logistics sorting line during the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center on July 26, 2025. (Tian Yuhao via Getty Images)