Yao Yunzhu is a retired Major General of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and Director Emeritus of the Center on China-American Defense Relations at the Academy of Military Sciences. She currently serves as Senior Consultant to the Secretariat of the Beijing Xiangshan Forum. Yao joined the PLA in 1970, serving as soldier, staff officer, instructor, researcher, and director of research centers. She holds an M.A. from the PLA Foreign Languages Institute and a Ph.D. in Military Science from the Academy of Military Sciences. She was a visiting scholar at SOAS, London (1995–96), an Eisenhower Fellow in the U.S. (1999), and a visiting fellow at Harvard University (2009–10). Her publications include Post-war American Deterrence: Theories and Policies and contributions to On Asia-Pacific Security Strategy and 20th Century Strategic Legacy and the World through Chinese Scholars, focusing on U.S. military affairs, nuclear policy, arms control, and Asia-Pacific security.