Not only American scientists die in mysterious circumstances, but also Chinese ones. At least nine cases of suspicious deaths
The rising star of China's military artificial intelligence sector was working on scenarios for an eventual invasion of Taiwan – until he died in an inexplicable dawn car crash in Beijing aged just 38, Newsweek reports.
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The death of Feng Yanghe, a professor at the National University of Defense Technology, on July 1, 2023, raises many questions. He had won national competitions thanks to his innovative “War Skull” platform.
Among the unanswered questions are: How is it that the obituary published on the state-run Sciencenet.cn website says he was “sacrificed”? And why was the brilliant scholar originally from Gansu province buried in a special cemetery in Beijing, reserved for the Communist Party elite, revolutionary heroes and martyrs?
However, like the situation in the United States, Feng's death is not an isolated case. According to Chinese media and Chinese publications in the diaspora, several top researchers in ultra-sensitive fields – such as military artificial intelligence, hypersonic weapons and space defense – have died unexpectedly.
The phenomenon mirrors a similar series of disappearances or deaths among American scientists currently under investigation in Washington. There have been 11 cases in the US and at least nine in China.
This situation has given rise to an unsettling question among some military analysts: Is there a “silent war” involving scientists?
“A Taiwan Simulation Strategist”
The competition between the US and China is intensifying, with Chinese and Russian leaders proclaiming that the world is going through “changes not seen for a century” regarding the international order and that they are the driving force behind it. This competition for power takes place largely in the fields of science and technology, providing not only economic advantage but also military superiority.
In China, the media and social media, as well as obituaries, attributed the deaths to road accidents or unspecified “accidents” without naming a cause. The ages of the deceased vary between 26 and 68 years.
Feng was returning from a business meeting in the Chinese capital when he died at around 2:35 a.m., according to the state-run China Daily, which cited an announcement by the commemoration committee. It says he was working on a “major task”, with no further details. Sciencenet.cn said he was “sacrificed while performing his official duties.”
“Feng was one of the main architects of the AI simulations for Taiwan-related scenarios, and it is unusual that the accident happened in the middle of the night,” said an experienced Chinese military researcher at a Western think tank monitoring the situation.
He agreed to speak only under the protection of anonymity, due to the sensitivity of the subject. “I don't think it's healthy to be associated with such things”he told Newsweek.
“A person killed in a car accident is not usually described as 'sacrificing' their life”, added the Chinese-speaking researcher. He also pointed out that Feng's burial in Beijing's Babaoshan Cemetery is “very strange”.
“The fields of these researchers who died include hypersonics, military artificial intelligence – especially swarming simulations – that is, technologies that can radically change the balance. These fields seem overrepresented in these cases. It doesn't necessarily seem like an entire group is being eliminated, but if the brightest researchers are targeted, the effect can be a deterrent.”he said, adding that some cases could be “genuine accidents.”
The assumption is that an opponent “might try to slow down [China]. The situation is starting to look more and more unusual”he concluded.
China's embassy in Washington said it was “not aware of the situation” when contacted by Newsweek by email.
“What I want to emphasize is that China has always been dedicated to promoting scientific and technological progress through cooperation and healthy competition”a spokesman for the intelligence and public affairs division said.
When asked by Newsweek on the subject, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly did not comment on the situation in China, limiting herself to the situation in the US: “The White House continues to coordinate with agencies to investigate these events and ensure transparency for the American people. We will not prejudge the results of the investigation.”
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An extravagant hypothesis, but not impossible
It seems like an exaggerated theory. However, scientists have also been political targets over time. An unknown number of Iranian nuclear researchers have been assassinated, presumably by Israel, in an attempt to slow down Iran's nuclear program. Others have died in Israeli and US bombing since June 2025.
There is no evidence that the US, China or Russia are conducting assassination campaigns against scientists or that they are being targeted by other hostile states. On the other hand, the stakes are extremely high.
The Chinese-language media, which follow these suspicious deaths, frequently suggest their own suspicions with headlines such as: “Eight top scientists die 'mysteriously'!” Taiwan's Formosa TV News described the phenomenon as “Extremely Unusual”.
In mainland China and Hong Kong, speculation ran: “But who would have thought that even in the 21st century, several Chinese geniuses who studied or traveled abroad would die mysteriously and inexplicably!”, it is stated in an article published last October on the 163.com website.
Some Chinese publications noted that other deaths – not included in the nine analyzed by Newsweek – took place in the US or that many of the researchers had studied there. This is not unusual, however, as for decades China has sent its best scientists to study at top American universities.
Many of them later returned to China, either voluntarily or under more or less subtle pressure, to contribute to the country's scientific, technological and military modernization.
A string of suspicious deaths
Other cases attributed to road accidents include Zhang Xiaoxin, 62, who died in December 2024. He was a space expert at the National Meteorological Satellite Center and had specialized in weather monitoring and early warning systems, according to the South China Morning Post.
“Zhang won a top award from the Chinese military for advances in science and technology, although little is known about his research project”the publication reported.
In 2018, 57-year-old Chen Shuming, a military scientist and microelectronics expert at the same university where Feng taught, died in a car accident. He was billed as the “leader of the research and development team for cutting-edge weapons chips.”
Chemist Zhou Guangyuan, 51, died in December 2023 without a cause being made public. The obituary on Sciencenet.cn said that after years of study, he had “developed a deeper sense of responsibility towards the country's needs”.
A specialist in materials, especially polymers, Zhou was a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a researcher at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics. The cause of death was not specified.
The field of hypersonics has also lost experts such as Fang Daining, 68, who reportedly died of an unexpected medical episode in South Africa in February this year.
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“Fang was studying ultra-tough materials for spacecraft and advanced engines at the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), a key university for defense research,” the South China Morning Post reported, citing an obituary displayed on campus.
The list goes on with:
Yan Hong, 56, a hypersonics researcher who previously worked at Wright State University in Ohio and later at US-sanctioned Northwestern Polytechnical University. He died in March, apparently from an illness.
In 2025, Zhang Daibing, 47, a top drone expert and former deputy director of the Institute of Unmanned Systems, died in Changsha, Hunan Province, without a cause being announced.
Liu Donghao, 51, a data security specialist, died in 2024 in an unspecified accident. He was the founder of a data security research organization and a pioneer in this sector in China.
Li Minyong, 49, an internationally renowned biomedical chemist and recipient of a Ministry of Education talent program, died in 2025 following a sudden illness. He had developed “innovative drugs guided by visualization and light-controlled regulation,” according to the obituary.
“Pretty serious stuff”
In parallel, in the US, the series of disappearances and deaths of scientists in unexplained circumstances attracted the attention of public opinion and generated extensive online speculation. There could be a connection to a “foreign operation,” said Congressman Eric Burlison. The FBI is investigating the case.
“We are competing with China, Russia and Iran in nuclear technologies, advanced weapons and space. Meanwhile, our best scientists are disappearing,” the Missouri Republican wrote on the X platform.
US President Donald Trump recently described the cases as “pretty serious stuff”, expressing hope that it was just a coincidence.
To date, no link has been officially confirmed between the cases recently reported online.
