Yao Yunzhu is a retired army major general, the Director Emeritus of the  Center on China-American Defense Relations, the Academy of Military  Science (AMS), People’s Liberation Army, and a senior consultant of  the China Association of Military Science. She joined the PLA in 1970,  served successively in various positions. A prominent analyst of nuclear  issues, she has published and translated numerous books and articles  on military and security issues. She was elected a member of the 10th  National People’s Congress of the PRC in 2002, and a member of the 17th  Chinese Communist Party Congress in 2007.