Liu Guozhi [Weibo capture]

As China's anti-corruption drive expands into the defense and scientific technology sectors, high-ranking officials in the defense industry are being successively removed from lists of top scientists.

Following the removal of experts in strategic weapons such as nuclear and missiles from the lists of "Academicians" of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, which designate China's top engineers, a high-ranking official who once commanded the nuclear test base has now also been deleted from the list.

According to Hong Kong's Ming Pao and other sources on the 20th, the Chinese Academy of Sciences recently deleted the name and biography of Lieutenant General Liu Guozhi, former director of the Science and Technology Committee of the Central Military Commission, from its homepage's list of academicians.

Liu Guozhi, a native of Liaoning Province, is an applied physicist who graduated from Tsinghua University's Department of Physics and served as the commander of China's nuclear test base.

He is considered a key figure in military science and technology, having served as deputy head of the General Armaments Department and director of the Science and Technology Committee of the Central Military Commission, overseeing the development of military weapons and strategic technologies.

In this regard, the Hong Kong South China Morning Post reported that "Liu Guozhi's exclusion from the list of top research institutions comes as China intensifies its anti-corruption drive in the military and defense industries."

Although Chinese authorities have not officially explained the background for the removal from the academicians' lists, the deletion of names from these lists is typically understood as a signal associated with official investigations or disciplinary actions.

Previously, Yang Wei, former deputy general manager of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, known as the chief designer of China's first stealth fighter jet, the J-20, was recently removed from the Chinese Academy of Sciences' academicians list.

Additionally, Liu Changli, a nuclear weapons expert who served as the president of the China Academy of Engineering Physics, responsible for nuclear weapons research and production, was also recently removed from the list.

The exclusion of high-ranking officials in the defense sector is also continuing from the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Key figures in radar, nuclear weapons, and missile fields, including Wu Manqing, former general manager of China Electronics Technology Group, Zhao Xiancheng, former vice president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and Wei Yiyin, former deputy general manager of China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, have also been successively removed from the lists.