Recently, there has been a series of incidents involving high-level officials from state-owned military enterprises in China, as well as top academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Speculation surrounds the alleged passing of Chinese hypersonic weapon expert and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fang Daining, on February 27, 2026, due to illness, although no official announcement has been made. The removal of several military experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in recent times has drawn attention to these rumors.
On March 18, the “South China Morning Post” published a report citing unconfirmed online claims that Fang Daining had passed away from a sudden illness while on a business trip in South Africa.
According to reports, a notice seemingly posted on a whiteboard at the Institute of Advanced Structural Technology at Beijing Institute of Technology announced the passing of Professor Fang, who was involved in research on advanced materials for spacecraft and advanced engines, on February 27 due to illness. The institute was established with Fang’s assistance in 2015.
The “South China Morning Post” stated that they were unable to verify the information regarding Fang Daining’s passing.
Additionally, the globally renowned independent academic publishing house, “World Science Publishing Company,” released an English obituary on its official website stating that “Professor Fang Daining has sadly passed away.”
However, up to now, neither Beijing Institute of Technology nor the Chinese Academy of Sciences has issued any announcement regarding Fang Daining’s passing, and his name still remains on the list of academicians in the “Department of Technical Sciences” of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and related directories of Beijing Institute of Technology.
Upon investigating mainland Baidu Baike, it was found that there were no unusual updates regarding Fang Daining, and there were no reports of his passing on Weibo. On Wikipedia, it states, “Fang Daining (April 3, 1958 – February 27, 2026 [citation needed]).”
Public records indicate that Fang Daining, born on April 3, 1958, in Nanchang, Jiangxi, and with ancestral roots in Ningbo, Zhejiang, was an expert in the field of materials mechanics, a academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a foreign academician of the National Academy of Engineering in the USA, and a professor at Beijing Institute of Technology. He served as the Vice Dean of the School of Engineering at Peking University and was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2013. From 2015, he held the position of professor at Beijing Institute of Technology, serving as the Vice President of Beijing Institute of Technology from 2015 to November 2018.
Fang Daining was the central figure in the “kissing video incident” that occurred a few years ago. In July 2022, during an online academic conference, a young woman repeatedly kissed Fang Daining’s face.
Following the public outcry over the incident, disciplinary action was taken against Fang Daining by the university and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Fang Daining was relieved of his position as the Director of the Academic Committee of Beijing Institute of Technology, and the university suspended his qualifications for recruiting graduate students. The Department of the Chinese Academy of Sciences also reported the suspension of Fang Daining’s rights as an academician, including participation in academic activities organized by the department, the recommendation and election of academicians and foreign academicians, and the election and selection as members of permanent leadership bodies of the department.
The university at the time clarified that the woman in the video was an employee of a Beijing company, not the postdoctoral fellow Li as rumored online. Following the incident, Fang Daining continued to work but rarely appeared in public.
It is currently unclear whether the “passing” of Fang Daining is related to the recent purges in the military and engineering sectors.
Over the past three years, at least 10 academicians from both academies with military backgrounds have been disqualified, primarily from the Chinese Academy of Engineering. This list includes prominent figures such as Luo Qi, former Chief Engineer of China National Nuclear Corporation; Xiao Longxu, former Chief Engineer of the Rocket Force Research Institute; Jin Donghan, former President of Tianjin University (a specialist in power machinery); Cao Jianguo, former Chairman of China Aero Engine Group; Wu Manqing, former Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (a radar expert); Zhao Xiageng, former Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (a nuclear weapons expert); and Wei Yiyin, former Deputy General Manager of Aerospace Science and Industry Group (a missile guidance and control expert).
Academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences who have been disqualified include Yang Wei, former Deputy General Manager of China Aviation Industry Corporation (“Father of J-20”); Liu Cangli, former Director of China Academy of Engineering Physics; and Liu Guozhi, former Director of the Science and Technology Commission of the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party.