Why leading Chinese scientist warned public against ‘hubris’ over country’s advances

The Chinese people have been urged to stay “calm and objective” about the country’s advances in cutting-edge weapons by a veteran rocket scientist, who warned “a lot of effort” was still needed.

In an interview for a popular video account, Zhao Ruian, 84, a former researcher with the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, said China had gained an advantage in some areas of aerospace technology but warned people not to let their expectations get too high.

“We’ve made strides, but overall, sustained effort is essential,” Zhao said in the video. “View progress calmly and objectively – our true breakthroughs lie [ahead] in 2050, not hubris today.”

The interview with the Beijing Daming vlog, which has around 2 million followers on the social media platform Douyin, was carried out in a park in the Chinese capital using an informal format.

At the start, Zhao was asked to introduce himself and list some of his achievements, and replied that he had set out a theoretical framework for missile defence systems such as the Golden Dome network in his 2008 book Space Weapon Orbital Design.

The Golden Dome is a proposed multilayer defence system for the US, intended to detect and destroy various foreign threats – including ballistic, hypersonic and cruise missiles – before they launch or while in flight.