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)
An MH-53E Sea Dragon prepares to land on the flight deck of San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS Portland on July 12, 2022, off the coast of Southern California. (US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Devin Kates)
A ground crew unload weapons and other military hardware delivered by the United States military at Boryspil Airport near Kyiv on January 25, 2022, in Boryspil, Ukraine. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Officers of the China Coast Guard stand on deck as they set sail in the North Pacific Ocean from Shanghai, on July 30, 2021. (Photo by Xinhua via Getty Images)
A F-22 Raptor from the 325th Fighter Wing flies alongside a F-35 Lightning II from the 33rd Fighter Wing over the Emerald Coast. (U.S. Air Force photo by 1st Lt Savanah Bray)
Aerial view of a container ship of COSCO shipping unloading cargoes at the Port of Los Angeles on October 26, 2021 in San Pedro, California. (Photo by Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images)