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 protester raises a placard during a demonstration to condemn China's aggression in the disputed South China Sea in front of the Chinese Consulate in Makati, Metro Manila, on February 6, 2024. (Jam Sta Rosa/AFP and Getty Images)
Former National Security Advisor of the United States H.R. McMaster looks on before being sworn in to testify during the first hearing on national security and Chinese threats to America held by the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party in Washington, DC, on February 28, 2023. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)
Pakistan election commission workers prepare election materials at a distribution center in Karachi on February 6, 2024. (Asif Hassan/AFP via Getty Images)