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 President Xi Jinping attends the fourth plenary session of the National People's Congress on March 11, 2023, in Beijing, China. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
Chinese President Xi Jinping and President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ebrahim Raisi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on February 14, 2023. (Yan Yan/Xinhua via Getty Images)
Military vehicles carrying DF-17 missiles participate in a military parade in Tiananmen Square in Beijing on October 1, 2019, to mark the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. (Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch Complex 39A on NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station on May 30, 2020, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Bill Ingalls via DVIDS)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping toast during a reception at the Kremlin, Moscow, on March 21, 2023. (Pavel Byrkin/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Putin arrives at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, on March 21, 2023. (Contributor via Getty Images)
Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party, Saudi delegation, and Iranian delegation in Beijing, China, on March 10, 2023. (Luo Xiaoguang/Xinhua via Getty Images)