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 model of Iran's first-ever hypersonic missile, the Fattah, next to a mosque in Tehran, Iran, on April 15, 2024. (Photo by Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Demonstrators protest against a controversial bill limiting so-called foreign influence in Tbilisi, Georgia, on April 28, 2024. (Photo by Nicolo Vincenzo Malvestuto/Getty Images)
Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele shakes hands with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to mark the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two nations in September, 2019 in Beijing, China. (Naohiko Hatta via Getty Images)
A police officer looking at League of Social Democrats protesting outside the Central Government office on October 25, 2023, in Hong Kong, China. (Vernon Yuen via Getty Images)