Tong Zhao is a Visiting Research Scholar at SGS. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He was a Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He is on the Board of the Asia Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Non-Proliferation & Disarmament. Tong Zhao 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.
Research Interests
Tong Zhao conducts research on U.S.-China nuclear relationship, exploring measures to reduce the risk of arms race and nuclear conflict. To that end, he examines how domestic political factors affect options for arms control and nonproliferation cooperation between Beijing and Washington and analyzes the impact of cutting-edge technologies such as hypersonic missile, missile defense, and counter-space weapon on the security relationship of major powers. To promote accountable nuclear policy-making, he uses open-source literature to understand the history of nuclear weapon incidents and to raise public awareness of the humanitarian consequences of major power wars and nuclear use in East Asia, including over the Taiwan Strait. He is also interested in studying measures to contain the security impact of North Korea’s growing nuclear capabilities in Northeast Asia.
Publications:
Tong Zhao, “It’s Time to Talk About No First Use”, Foreign Policy, November 6, 2023.
Tong Zhao, “How China’s Echo Chamber Threatens Taiwan”, Foreign Affairs, May 9, 2023.
Tong Zhao, “Managing the Impact of Missile Defense on U.S.-China Strategic Stability” in Missile Defense and the Strategic Relationship among the United States, Russia, and China, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Cambridge, Massachusetts, March 2023, pp. 1-28.
Tong Zhao and Jungmin Kang, “China’s Role in Shaping South Korea’s Nuclear Choice”, Global Asia, Vol.18, No.1, March 2023, pp. 34-39.
Tong Zhao, “The Perception Gap and the China-US Relationship”, Asia Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Non-Proliferation & Disarmament (APLN), February 2023.
Tong Zhao, Why the United States Should Discuss Mutual Nuclear Vulnerability with China, Chapter 8 in David Santoro (ed.), US-China Mutual Vulnerability: Perspectives on the Debate, Pacific Forum, May 2022, pp. 71-81.
Tong Zhao, China's Approach to Arms Control Verification, Sandia National Laboratories, April 2022.
Selected talks:
“The Responsible Use of AI in the Age of Hyper-Competition,” 3rd World Emerging Security Forum, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea, Seoul, December 2023.
“Norms of cooperative security in Northeast Asia”, Toda Peace Institute, November 2023.
“China's Military Innovation and Preparation for Future Warfare,” 2023 International Security Conference, National Defense University, Republic of Korea, October 2023.
“US-China Relationship and Catastrophic Risk,” EA Global: Boston 2023, October 2023.
“China’s Changing Nuclear Strategy,” China's Power: Up for Debate 2023, CSIS, October 2023.
“Chinese Nuclear Policy and Development,” Princeton School on Science and Global Security, October 2023.
“Hotlines and the Road to Renewed Negotiations,” Global Order Colloquium, University of Pennsylvania, September 2023.
“Identifying Common Nuclear Risk Agenda,” United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), August 2023.
“US-China Arms Control Cooperation,” Sandia National Laboratories, August 2023.
“Multilateral Institutions & Preventing Conflict,” Forum on Asia-Pacific Security, National Committee on American Foreign Policy, June 2023.
“The Taiwan Factor: Its Role in China-US Relations,” Chatham House, June 2023.
“Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty and prevention of nuclear war,” U.N. Conference on Disarmament, June 2023.
“Preventing a Three-Way Nuclear Arms Race,” Arms Control Association annual conference, June 2023.
“China’s Role in Multilateral Arms Control,” Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP), May 2023.
“Outlook on Arms Control Engagement with China Now and in the Future,” U.S. Air Force, May 2023.
“China-Russia relations,” The Fundamentals of China, Canada School of Public Service, May 2023.
“The Future of Nuclear Nonproliferation: A Chinese perspective,” American Physical Society, April 2023.
“Current Nuclear Threats in East Asia,” Physical Society of Japan, March 2023.
“China and its Changing Nuclear Weapons Policies,” University of British Columbia, March 2023.
“China's Shifting Nuclear Policy and Its Implications for International Security,” University of Pennsylvania, February 2023.
Nuclear rearmament – Re-run of the Arms Race? 35th Asia-Pacific Roundtable, ISIS Malaysia, July 2022
Sanctions and Counter-Sanctions in the Perspective of the Target State, Renmin University, Beijing, July 2022
The U.S.-China Nuclear Relationship: A Chinese Perspective, Nuclear Nonproliferation Education and Research Center, July 2022
US-China Military Competition: Implications for Regional & Global Security, Strafasia Workshop on Contemporary Security Issues, July 2022
Military Spending and Prospect of Arms Control in the Asia Pacific Region, UN Secretary-General's Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters, June 2022
What Role Is There for Nuclear Arms Control in the Asia-Pacific? Workshop on Strengthening the NPT Regime: Priorities for the Future, NTI and APLN, June 2022
Risk of Nuclear Disorder on the Korean Peninsula, The Second Roundtable Forum on Comparative Regionalism and “Crisis and Change of Regional Order” Seminar, Wuhan University, May 2022
War on Ukraine: China’s Domestic and Diplomatic Balancing Act, Chatham House, May 2022
China’s Perspectives on the Ukraine-Russia Conflict, Regional foreign and security policy seminar, May 2022
Geo-Strategic Implications of the Russo-Ukrainian War, CISS Global Forum, May 2022
Possibilities of A Nuclear Weapons Convention, NWC Reset: Frameworks for A Nuclear-Weapon-Free World, April 2022
Nuclear Deterrence -- Theory and Practice in a new reality, Beijing Military Attaché Corp Army Club, Beijing, April 2022
Managing Risk in Nuclear South Asia, Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies, April 2022
Future of Sino-EU and Sino-US Relations and The Importance of Disarmament in The Context of the US-China “Cold War,” Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy, University of London, April 2022
New Challenges to Maintaining U.S.-China Nuclear Strategic Stability, Sandia National Laboratories, March 2022
Possibilities for Coordination between Germany/Europe and China on the Ukraine War, Chinese-German Dialogue on conflicts in Ukraine, March 2022
China’s Nuclear Modernization and Its Implications, Strategic Multilayer Assessment (SMA), March 2022
Nuclear Policy of China, 2nd International Winter School “Arms Control and Nonproliferation: From Basic to Advanced,” Odessa Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Odessa Mechnikov National University, February 2022
Common Security Policy in the South China Sea, 16th Strategy Conference of Cooperation for Peace, International Peace Bureau, February 2022
Strategic Stability in Northeast Asia, Peninsula Diplomacy Group, Yonsei Institute for Modern Korean Studies and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, January 2022