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)
U.S. President Joe Biden shakes hands with Xi Jinping inside the Great Hall of the People on December 4, 2013 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
Xi Jinping waves as he attends the art performance celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China on June 28, 2021 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
Demonstrators protest China’s genocidal campaign against the Uyghur people outside the Chinese Embassy in London, England, on January 19, 2020. (David Cliff/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Taiwan military forces parades in front of Taiwan presidential palace on the occasion of the nation's 110 birthday. (Photo by Alberto Buzzola/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Military vehicles carrying DF-100 ground-based land-attack missiles participate in a military parade at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on October 1, 2019. (GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images)
Military vehicles carrying DF-17 missiles participate in a military parade at Tiananmen Square in Beijing on October 1, 2019. (GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images)
Members of the World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origins of the COVID-19 coronavirus arrive by car at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan on February 3, 2021. (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)
Cargo containers sit stacked on ships at the Port of Los Angeles, the nation’s busiest container port, on October 15, 2021 in San Pedro, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)