Yao Haijun Photo: IC

Yao Haijun, director and deputy editor-in-chief of Sichuan Science Fiction World Magazine Co which launched the internationally bestselling The Three-Body Problem series, has been placed under disciplinary review for the suspicion of serious violations of disciplines and laws, the Sichuan Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection announced in a statement released on its official WeChat account on Wednesday. 

The team of Sichuan Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection stationed in the provincial department of science and technology is currently leading a disciplinary review. The Luzhou city supervision commission is conducting a supervisory investigation of Yao. 

Yao, who was born in Yichun, Northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province in May 1966, has a university degree obtained while working, according to the statement.

From June 2005 to December 2018, he served as deputy editor-in-chief of Science Fiction World magazine of Sichuan Association for Science and Technology. From December 2018 to present, he has served as director and deputy editor-in-chief of Sichuan Science Fiction World Magazine Co.

Science Fiction World, formerly known as Scientific Literature, was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Chengdu, Southwest China’s Sichuan Province. It is the world’s most-circulated science fiction magazine, which is regarded as the “base camp of Chinese science fiction” and the cradle of Chinese science fiction writers, Jiemian News reported on Wednesday.

Chinese leading science fiction author Liu Cixin’s notable works, The Three-Body Problem and The Wandering Earth, which was later adapted into a film, were originally published in this magazine, according to Jiemian News.

Some say Liu “single-handedly” elevated Chinese sci-fi to a world-class level, evident from his novels’ global readership, which includes Barack Obama, and the growing popularity of Netflix’s latest adaptation of The Three-Body Problem trilogy. Liu’s works had garnered numerous awards in China since the 1990s, but it was his Hugo Award win – the first for an Asian writer – that catapulted his novels and the sci-fi genre into the mainstream in China. 

Additionally, the Galaxy Award established by Science Fiction World is recognized as the highest award in the field of science fiction in China. 

Yao has been a key figure behind the publications of several outstanding works in Science Fiction World in recent years. He was instrumental in planning and publishing a series of original science fiction works, including Heaven's Will, Escape from the Mother Universe, and The Age of Heaven, and is often referred to as the “talent scout” of The Three-Body Problem. 

Moreover, Yao is also the founder of the Chinese Nebula Award, and won the Gold Award for Best Editor at the inaugural Nebula Award and the Special Contribution Award at the Galaxy Award. Yao also served as chair of the 2023 World Science Fiction Convention (Chengdu Worldcon). 

Global Times