Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese shakes hands with Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on May 4, 2026. (Getty Images)
A Philippine Air Force Black Hawk helicopter lands on June 29, 2023, on Mavulis Island, which is the Philippines’ northernmost island and is roughly 88 miles from Taiwan. (Getty Images)
Senior lecturer in the Department of Security Studies and Criminology at Macquarie University, Council of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute
A production line of the Glide, a high-altitude glider that delivers munitions across thousands of miles, is seen at the defense tech startup Mach Industries in Huntington Beach, California, on September 11, 2025. (Getty Images)
Trailers with launchers for guided missiles of a German Patriot air defense system stand on a snow-covered field in southeastern Poland on April 3, 2023. (Getty Images)
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Japan’s Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy Ryosei Akazawa shake hands during a photo session as they arrive at the USA Pavilion on US National Day at the World Expo 2025 on July 19, 2025, in Osaka, Japan. (Tomohiro Ohsumi via Getty Images)
President Donald J Trump speaks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House on February 7, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Jabin Botsford via Getty Images)
The Japan Air Self-Defense Force held an F-35 aircraft delivery ceremony at Komatsu Air Base in Japan on April 26, 2025. (F-35 Joint Program Office via JASDF and DVIDS)
US President Donald Trump holds up a chart of "reciprocal tariffs" at the White House on April 2, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images)
United States and Japanese national flags are displayed outside Palace Hotel Tokyo on May 25, 2019, in Tokyo, Japan. (Tomohiro Ohsumi via Getty Images)
President Donald Trump shakes hands with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the Oval Office in Washington, DC, on February 7, 2025. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
President Donald Trump greets Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba upon arrival outside the White House in Washington, DC, on February 7, 2025. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
Japan Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Shohei Ishii (right) and Philippine Coast Guard Chief of Staff Commodore Joeven Fabul (left) take part in arrival honors at the Philippine Coast Guard headquarters on November 4, 2023, in Manila, Philippines, as the countries seek to bolster military ties after tensions escalated between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea. (Ezra Acayan via Getty Images)