Tong Zhao is a senior fellow with the Nuclear Policy Program and Carnegie China, Carnegie’s East Asia-based research center on contemporary China. Formerly based in Beijing, he now conducts research in Washington on strategic security issues, such as nuclear weapons policy, deterrence, arms control, nonproliferation, missile defense, hypersonic weapons, regional security issues in Asia Pacific, and China’s security and foreign policy.
He is also a nonresident researcher at the Science and Global Security Program of Princeton University, an associate editor of the journal Science & Global Security, and a member of the International Panel on Fissile Materials. He was a virtual visiting research fellow at the Cooperative Monitoring Center of the Sandia National Laboratories, a Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at Harvard University, a nonresident WSD-Handa Fellow at Pacific Forum, and worked for the Office of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality.
He holds a PhD in science, technology, and international affairs from Georgia Institute of Technology, as well as an MA in international relations and a BS in physics from Tsinghua University. He is the author of “Political Drivers of China’s Changing Nuclear Policy: Implications for U.S.-China Nuclear Relations and International Security”, “Tides of Change: China’s Nuclear Ballistic Missile Submarines and Strategic Stability” and “Narrowing the U.S.-China Gap on Missile Defense: How to Help Forestall a Nuclear Arms Race.” He has published in Arms Control Today, Asian Security, The Atlantic, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, New York Times, War on the Rocks, and Politico, among others.
Thirty years ago, the idea that China could challenge the United States economically, globally, and militarily seemed unfathomable. Yet today, China is considered a great power. How did China manage to build power in an international system that was largely dominated by the United States? What factors determined the strategies Beijing pursued to achieve this feat?
Under Xi, China has shifted toward a much more aggressive nuclear expansion. What factors are actually motivating China’s policy and perspectives? What are the implications for U.S.-China nuclear relations and international security?
Under Xi, China has shifted toward a much more aggressive nuclear expansion. Why this sudden change?
The message from Chinese officials has become increasingly clear: the United States and China should first stabilize their political relationship before taking on nuclear issues.
Faced with an increase in strategic maneuvering by Moscow and Pyongyang, Beijing will not sit idly by and allow Putin and Kim to shape the security environment on its behalf.
Beijing seeks geopolitical leverage more than military advantage.
In order to explore the complexities of our rapidly changing world, the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center will examine pressing global issues through four engaging panel discussions in a one-day event, under the collective title, “The World in Focus: Uncertainty and the Global Outlook for 2024.”
If China continues expanding its nuclear arsenal and eschewing arms control with the United States, diplomatic engagement stands as one of the limited but crucial means to establish a safety net and reduce the risk of conflict.
Scholars from Carnegie’s global network comment on how the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is affecting their areas of interest, and what the implications of this may be.
Carnegie China scholars share their assessment of the Biden-Xi meeting and its implications for U.S.-China relations going forward.
