Dean Cheng

Dean Cheng

Former Senior Research Fellow, Asian Studies Center

Dean was a senior research fellow on Chinese political and security affairs.

This expert is no longer a staff member at The Heritage Foundation.

Dean Cheng brought detailed knowledge of China’s military and space capabilities to bear as The Heritage Foundation’s senior research fellow on Chinese political and security affairs.

He specialized in China’s military and foreign policy, in particular its relationship with the rest of Asia and with the United States.

Cheng wrote extensively on China’s military doctrine, technological implications of its space program and “dual use” issues associated with the communist nation’s industrial and scientific infrastructure.

He previously worked for 13 years as a senior analyst, first with Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), the Fortune 500 specialist in defense and homeland security, and then with the China Studies division of the Center for Naval Analyses, the federally funded research institute.

Before entering the private sector, Cheng studied China’s defense-industrial complex for a congressional agency, the Office of Technology Assessment, as an analyst in the International Security and Space Program.

Cheng has appeared on public affairs shows such as John McLaughlin’s One on One and programs on National Public Radio, CNN International, BBC World Service and International Television News (ITN). He has been interviewed by or provided commentary for publications such as Time magazine, The Washington Post, Financial Times, Bloomberg News, Jane’s Defense Weekly, South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo and Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post.

Cheng has spoken at the National Space Symposium, National Defense University, the Air Force Academy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Eisenhower Center for Space and Defense Studies.

Cheng earned a bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton University in 1986 and studied for a doctorate at MIT. He and his wife reside in Vienna, VA.

Commentary

NASA Scores Bullseye on Asteroid With Unusual Mission Dean Cheng

Sep 29, 2022 1 min read

report

Responding to the China Challenge: Blueprint 2.0

Sep 29, 2022 About an hour read

report

Why Taiwan Matters to Beijing Dean Cheng

Sep 23, 2022 28 min read

Commentary

Commentary

report

Meeting China’s Space Challenge Dean Cheng

Jun 14, 2022 8 min read

Commentary

Blinken in Multiverse of Biden Madness, China Edition Dean Cheng

May 31, 2022 3 min read

Commentary

Looking to the Stars in 2022 Dean Cheng

Dec 31, 2021 2 min read