Yu-Shan joined SAIIA in 2010 as a research assistant for SAIIA’s China in Africa Project. She became a Researcher in 2011-2015 and later Senior Researcher – 2016-2017. She is South African and has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the University of the Witwatersrand. She also has a background in Media studies and has assisted at the South African Broadcasting Corporation and contributed to a project on Chinese presence in South Africa for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Yu-Shan is currently pursuing a PhD in International Relations, at the University of Pretoria.

Yu-Shan’s areas of research are emerging countries and public diplomacy (through media and soft power) and China-Africa Relations (specifically South Africa, social consequences and the media relationship).