China targets face of international space cooperation in corruption crackdown
Senior Chinese defence industry official Bian Zhigang was also deputy director of the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
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BEIJING: Senior Chinese defence industry official Bian Zhigang is under investigation for corruption, the latest high-profile target in Beijing’s sweeping crackdown on its military sector.
Bian, deputy head of the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND), was suspected of “serious violations of discipline and law”, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said on Wednesday (Jun 24), using its usual term for corruption and bribery.
The CCDI is China’s top anti-corruption watchdog.
Bian is the latest official in the defence and space sector to come under investigation for corruption. He also is the deputy director of the China National Space Administration (CNSA). Public records do not disclose his age.
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Bian has spent most of his career at SASTIND, the Chinese government agency responsible for coordinating the research, development and production of military equipment across the nuclear, aerospace, aviation, shipbuilding, armaments and electronics sectors, while driving the core capabilities of China’s defence industrial base.
Bian was appointed deputy head at SASTIND in February 2024, and the announcement of his investigation came while he was still in the position.
His profile was scrubbed from official websites after the investigation was announced.
He has served in several major positions at SASTIND, including as head of the third department of systems engineering, head of the department of planning and chief engineer of the administration.
Bian last appeared publicly and spoke at a meeting on May 18, according to SASTIND’s social media account. But his name and attendance were edited out soon after the investigation was announced.
He had been the face of international cooperation for China’s space exploration, making appearances in both domestic and international space events.
His last international appearance was at the Russian Space Forum in Moscow in April.
In his capacity as the CNSA’s deputy director, Bian spoke of international cooperation in the country’s lunar and space exploration project.
He is the second deputy head of SASTIND to be investigated by the CCDI in the past year.
In October last year, the CCDI expelled Zhang Jianhua, SASTIND’s former deputy head, from the Communist Party for bribery.
Several senior Chinese defence and space officials have been investigated in recent years.
Ma Xingrui, a former member of China’s Politburo and the former party boss of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, was investigated by the CCDI in April for “serious violations of discipline and law”.
As an aerospace expert, Ma spent many years working at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, serving as its general manager from 2007 to 2013.
Ma was both the deputy commander-in-chief of China’s manned space programme and commander-in-chief of the new-generation carrier rocket project.
A number of Ma’s former subordinates in the aerospace sector have been caught in the anti-corruption net in the past few years.
Tan Ruisong, the former chairman and party secretary of the state-owned defence conglomerate Aviation Industry Corp of China (AVIC) - China’s leading military aircraft maker - was expelled from the party in February last year.
In March, a Chinese court handed Tan a suspended death sentence after convicting him of amassing more than 700 million yuan (US$103 million) through bribery, embezzlement, insider trading and leaking confidential information.
This article was first published on SCMP.
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