Fang Daining, a prominent Chinese expert in hypersonic weapons research, has died at the age of 68. The Chinese Academy of Sciences confirmed his passing due to illness earlier this year.

Fang Daining, a leading and at times controversial figure in China’s hypersonic weapons research, died earlier this year, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) confirmed in an obituary released on Tuesday. Fang, who held China’s highest academic title in science and technology as a CAS member, died of an illness on February 27, the premier national research institution said. He was 68. Fang was scheduled to speak at the African Conference on Computational Mechanics at the University of Cape Town...