Ching Wei Sooi

Policy Fellow
Outer Space | Strategic Stability | Emerging and Disruptive Technologies

Ching Wei is a Policy Fellow at BASIC where he works on the Responsibilities and Global Governance Programme. He is an outer space specialist with a particular focus on the intersection between space and nuclear weapons – the space-nuclear nexus – covering cross-domain issues such as deterrence and escalation dynamics, risk reduction, and crisis management. Ching Wei is also experienced at using analytical wargaming for research and training, designing and running crisis simulations and tabletop exercises for entities such as the UK Foreign Office (FCDO) and King’s College London’s Wargaming Network.

His analysis has been published by well-regarded organisations, notably the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), Wilton Park, the Secure World Foundation, and the Australia Institute of International Affairs (AIIA). He has also delivered lectures on space security at workshops hosted by, among others, the RACVIAC Centre for Security Cooperation and UK Project on Nuclear Issues (UK PONI), and regularly presents at and attends international conferences, such as those organised by the Alva Myrdal Centre, Freeman Air and Space Institute, and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs.

Prior to joining BASIC, Ching Wei was a Wilton Park rapporteur, a Graduate Professional with the UNIDIR’s Space Security and WMD Programmes, and an intern with the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs under the Office of the Director.

He holds an MA in Peace, Security and International Law from King’s College London, graduating with Distinction, as well as a BA (Hons) in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Western Australia. In addition, Ching Wei has participated in competitive fellowships run by the SIPRI Summer School in Sweden and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Education and Research Centre at KAIST university in South Korea.