Academician Zhao Xiaozhe Removed from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Two Former Directors of the Military Commission's Science and Technology Committee Disappear in Succession

On August 17, a reader discovered that the list of all academicians on the official website of the Chinese Academy of Engineering was missing one person—Zhao Xiaozhe, former director of the Military Commission's Science and Technology Committee and a navy vice admiral, had his name and resume removed, and his personal page on the academicians' website also disappeared. The total number of academicians dropped from 978 to 977. There was no announcement, no explanation, just like when nuclear scientists, radar experts, and missile designers disappeared from the same list in March this year.

A Person Who Controls the Research Direction of the Entire Military

Zhao Xiaozhe is not an ordinary academician. At 63 years old, he is from Dalian, having completed his bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees at Dalian University of Technology, where he studied computer science and engineering in 1984. After graduating, he began teaching at the Dalian Naval Academy, eventually becoming the director of the Combat Software and Simulation Research Institute. He was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 2011 (Department of Information and Electronic Engineering, Department of Engineering Management), served as deputy director of the Military Commission's Science and Technology Committee in 2018, and was promoted to director in 2021, succeeding Liu Guozhi.

• Specialization: Command and Control Information System Engineering, which involves software systems that convert battlefield information into combat decisions for warships.
• Rank and Position: Navy Vice Admiral, 20th Central Committee Member, former director of the Military Commission's Science and Technology Committee.
• Key Event: Absent from the Central Political Bureau's artificial intelligence study session in April 2025, attended by his deputy.

Two Directors, None Left

Another noteworthy detail comes from Caixin: the first two directors of the Military Commission's Science and Technology Committee, Liu Guozhi (Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19th Central Committee Member) and Zhao Xiaozhe (Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, 20th Central Committee Member), have now both been removed from the lists of academicians of the two academies. The disappearance of two consecutive leaders responsible for military technology from the academician list has no precedent in public records.

The timeline is also intriguing. According to the South China Morning Post, when Xi Jinping presided over the artificial intelligence study session in April 2025, Zhao Xiaozhe was already absent, represented by his deputy. The gap between his absence and removal lasted more than a year, indicating that this was not a sudden decision but a process that unfolded over time.

The Weight of the Removal Action

Removal from the academician list carries a strong signal in the Chinese context. The regulations of the Academy state that an academician can only have their title revoked for legal violations or serious breaches of the regulations. The military system typically handles fallen leaders discreetly, while the semi-public nature of removing an academician serves as a simultaneous announcement to both the internal and external systems: this person is out, and no reasons will be provided.

Industry insiders suggest that the project initiation pace of the Military Commission's Science and Technology Committee has noticeably slowed in the past two years, with some preliminary research projects undergoing reevaluation. This claim is unverified and for reference only.

For the PLA's information construction, the issues become even more practical. Combat software and command control systems are core assets in the era of software-defined warfare, with long development cycles and a high dependency on technological route judgments. In comparison, the U.S. military's combat system software is maintained by commercial giants like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, with personnel changes having limited impact; whereas in China, the institutional system means that a change in the commanding general can lead to a reordering of project priorities. This systemic difference determines that the impact of personnel changes will be magnified.

Leaving a Question for 2027

From the nuclear scientists in March to the command control software experts in August, at least four academicians from the military-industrial system have disappeared from the Academy's list this year. With less than a year and a half until the 2027 centenary goal of building the military, how to balance the extensive personnel changes in the research system with the established path of mechanization, informatization, and intelligence?

The real focus should not be on who has disappeared, but rather on who will have the authority to determine the PLA's research priorities in the next five years. This question has no public answer, but the answer will certainly be reflected in future equipment sequences.