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)
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy visit Lulworth Camp in London, England, on February 8, 2023. (Number 10 via Flickr)
The crew of a Leopard 2 main battle tank waiting for Chancellor Olaf Scholz during his visit to the Bundeswehr army training center in Ostenholz, Germany, on October 17, 2022. (David Hecker via Getty Images)
A man walks past portraits of Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and current President Xi Jinping at Yanan Revolutionary Memorial Hallin Yanan, China, on October 15, 2022. (Jade Gao/AFP via Getty Images)
A large machine lifts containers at the China-Kazakhstan Logistics Cooperation Base in Lianyungang, China, on June 8, 2022. (CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Joe Biden welcomes Xi Jinping for his first visit to the United States at Andrews Air Force Base in Washington, DC, on September 24, 2015. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen via Getty Images)