On October 23, 2024, the Chinese Communist Party officially announced that Yao Haijun, the deputy editor-in-chief of Sichuan Science Fiction World Magazine Co., Ltd., is under investigation (as shown in an online screenshot).
October 23, 2024 — Yao Haijun, who planned the publication of several original science fiction works including The Three-Body Problem, has been officially announced as under investigation. Yao had previously advocated for human rights, the people's voice, and constitutional governance. In August, he took full charge of the magazine’s operations, and by September, rumors of his disappearance had already circulated within the sci-fi community.
On October 23, the CCP’s Sichuan Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission and Supervisory Commission reported that Yao Haijun, a director and deputy editor-in-chief of Sichuan Science Fiction World Magazine Co., Ltd., was suspected of serious violations of discipline and law. He is currently undergoing disciplinary review by the Provincial Discipline Inspection and Supervision Commission's branch in the Science and Technology Department, with Luzhou City’s Supervisory Commission overseeing the investigation as per provincial directives.
According to Jiemian News, rumors of Yao's disappearance had been circulating in the sci-fi community for over a month. His last post on Weibo was on September 10. Sci-fi influencers had also revealed that Yao could no longer be reached via Weibo or WeChat.
Yao missed two significant events in China’s sci-fi community: the 35th China Science Fiction Galaxy Awards held in Chengdu on September 28, and the Tianwen Chinese Sci-Fi Literature Contest held on October 18-19 in Chengdu.
A month earlier, on August 19, Sichuan Science Fiction World Magazine announced that Yao Haijun had taken full responsibility for the magazine’s editorial work and was leading the editorial board.
Yao Haijun, born in May 1966 in Yichun, Heilongjiang Province, holds an on-the-job university degree from the Provincial Party School. He began his career in November 1988. Early on, while working in Yichun's Yimin Forest Farm, Yao self-funded and launched Nebula magazine, which focused on sci-fi criticism and news, gaining significant attention.
In 1997, Ma Junying, the deputy editor-in-chief of Shanxi's Science Fiction King magazine, invited Yao to join the team as an editor. A year later, Yao moved to the Sichuan Association for Science and Technology’s Science Fiction World magazine.
In June 2005, Yao was promoted to deputy editor-in-chief of Science Fiction World, and in December 2018, he became a director and deputy editor-in-chief of Sichuan Science Fiction World Magazine Co., Ltd., a position he held until this investigation.
Yao was also the founder of the Chinese Nebula Awards and the chief editor of the World Science Fiction Masters Series, introducing over 200 classic sci-fi works. He served as the 2023 World Science Fiction Convention chair, president of the Chengdu Science Fiction Association, and was responsible for publishing a range of original sci-fi works, including The Will of Heaven, Escape from the Metauniverse, The Age of Heaven, and The Three-Body Problem.
The Three-Body Problem trilogy has been translated into 19 languages, with sales exceeding 21 million copies worldwide. The books were also adapted into TV series by foreign studios.
On March 21, Netflix launched the U.S. adaptation of The Three-Body Problem on its streaming platform, with the opening scene depicting a shocking Cultural Revolution struggle session at a university. Though Netflix is not available in China, reports surfaced that the CCP’s Propaganda Department and Cyberspace Administration of China had ordered the censorship of any content related to the Cultural Revolution depicted in the show.
Sichuan Science Fiction World Magazine Co., Ltd. originated from the Science Fiction World magazine, established in 1979, and was restructured into a state-owned enterprise in late 2018. The company publishes and distributes several magazines, including Science Fiction World, Science Fiction World Picture Book, Asia-Pacific Education, Fly, Business, and Sichuan Science and Technology News.
The news of Yao Haijun’s investigation has sparked widespread attention online.
Weibo influencer "Cui Zijian" posted screenshots of some of Yao Haijun’s past Weibo posts, commenting, "When a deputy editor of a science fiction magazine is not focused on science fiction novels but instead constantly talks about democracy and constitutional governance, you can already sense what’s going on. There’s no love without reason, nor hate without reason. Why is he dissatisfied? There’s a reason for that."
The screenshots show that on April 12, 2016, Yao Haijun replied to a Weibo user: "Stability is indeed important, but it should not be built on top of (or over) people's livelihood, democracy, and the rule of law."
On April 13, 2018, Yao tweeted: "Isn’t the Chinese Dream a dream of human rights, democracy, and constitutional governance? How could it be misunderstood? The Chinese Dream should be as clear in meaning as the American Dream was back then."
Edited by: Li Lin
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