{
  "id": 1650976,
  "title": "Chinese navy’s combat software guru Zhao Xiaozhe disappears from academy website",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/chinese-navys-combat-software-guru-zhao-xiaozhe-disappears-from-1650976",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-08-18T06:00:14.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "South China Morning Post",
    "slug": "south-china-morning-post",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3364364/chinese-navys-combat-software-guru-zhao-xiaozhe-disappears-academy-website"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "A top naval software expert, whose work helped warships to process battlefield information and support combat decisions, has vanished from the Chinese Academy of Engineering’s online membership list. Zhao Xiaozhe, 63, a vice-admiral in the PLA Navy, once headed the Central Military Commission’s top science and technology body, helping to shape research priorities across China’s armed forces. He…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Reuters Business via SCMP",
        "title": "Chinese navy’s combat software guru Zhao Xiaozhe disappears from academy website",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/chinese-navys-combat-software-guru-zhao-xiaozhe-disappears-from",
        "published": "2026-08-18T06:00:14.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}