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 takes part in a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on July 2, 2019. (MARK SCHIEFELBEIN/AFP via Getty Images)
Palau President Surangel Whipps, Jr. greets Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu and US Ambassador to Palau John Hennessey-Niland during an international press conference in Taipei, Taiwan, 29 March 2021 (Photo by Ceng Shou Yi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A general view of "Ever Given", a container ship operated by the Evergreen Marine Corporation which is currently stuck in the Suez canal, during a tugging attempt to re-float it (Photo by Fadell Dawod/picture alliance via Getty Images)
President Joe Biden, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, meets virtually with members of the "Quad" alliance of Australia, India, Japan and the US on March 12, 2021 (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)
Britain's new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth arrives in New York on October 19, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
Two US-made F-16 fighters in the air during an scramble take off at the eastern Hualien air force base on January 23, 2013. The Taiwan air force demonstrated their combat skills at the Hualien air base during an annual training before the coming lunar new
MH-60R Sea Hawks attached to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron HSM-77 (the “Saberhawks”) hover in formation between the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (foreground) and USS Nimitz while under way in the South China Sea, July 7, 2020. The Nimitz and R