J-20 fighter jet designer scrubbed from Chinese Academy of Sciences website

2026.03.18 09:20 Yang Wei led the design of the J-20 fifth-generation stealth fighter jet. Photo: CCTV The chief designer on the J-20 stealth fighter jet has been removed from the website of China’s national research institute, amid a sweeping campaign to stamp out corruption in the defence sector. Yang Wei, 62, had been listed as a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the top academic body for science and technology. But as of Monday, his name was no longer on the site, according to a snapshot from Internet Archive, which seeks to preserve online content. Yang has not appeared in public for more than a year. No explanation has been given for his absence, or for the removal of his name from the site. He joined the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China in 1985 and has long been involved in fighter jet development, including the fifth-generation J-20 stealth aircraft. Yang was promoted to the position of deputy manager of AVIC in 2018. The aircraft manufacturer is a key player in China’s military modernisation and a major supplier and developer of fighter jets. The latest development follows the removal of Yang’s profile, along with that of AVIC general manager Hao Zhaoping, from the company’s website, in January last year. Their positions have since been filled. Yang’s first big project was the third-generation J-10 fighter jet, which made its maiden flight in 1998. He went on to lead the design of the J-20, the country’s first domestically developed heavy twin-engine stealth fighter. The J-20 entered service in 2017 and was seen as a symbol of China’s military modernisation – and an equivalent to America’s F-22 Raptor. It has since been deployed in geopolitical hotspots in the region, including near the Taiwan Strait and the East China Sea. Yang was also part of the ruling Communist Party’s top decision-making body, the Central Committee, as an alternate member from 2017 to 2022. He was elected as an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences

原文链接: 南华早报