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

Yang Wei has not appeared in public for more than a year, and it comes amid an anti-corruption campaign in the defence sector

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Yang Wei led the design of the J-20 fifth-generation stealth fighter jet. Composite image: Handout, AP
Alcott Weiin Beijing
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.

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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.

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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.

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