Modernization Political Work

Acceleration from a Wheelchair — Xinhua News Agency Reporter Exclusively Interviews Wang Ji

轮椅上的加速度——新华社记者专访王戟

PLA Daily (解放军报) 29 July 2026

Summary

Wang Ji, a professor at the National University of Defense Technology who lost both legs to aortic dissection in 2013 and now undergoes dialysis three times a week, was awarded the first-class Military Science and Technology Progress Award (军事科学技术进步奖一等奖) in January 2025 for leading a national defense 973 Program project on software reliability that the acceptance review rated at the international forefront and has since been applied to multiple critical defense equipment programs. The article is a Xinhua human-interest profile; its narrow analytical value is as a record of how PLA institutional media frames individual sacrifice and perseverance in defense science, and it incidentally documents that China's highly trustworthy software (高可信软件) research — focused on cross-domain, cross-type software reliability — has reached fielding stage across unspecified defense platforms, though which systems and at what scale remain undisclosed.

Translation

He was admitted to the National University of Defense Technology (NUDT) before the age of 14, was evaluated as a full professor at 33, received the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars at 38, and has been awarded the second-class National Science and Technology Progress Award along with multiple provincial and ministerial-level prizes…… Wang Ji, charging forward at full speed, could never have imagined that fate would deal him a crushing blow.

In 2013, Wang Ji suffered a sudden aortic dissection and was left with no choice but to undergo high-level amputation; in 2021, he was diagnosed with renal failure, and as his condition progressed he required dialysis three times a week.

From "diligent young scholar" to "professor in a wheelchair," having endured more than 700 rounds of dialysis, he still chose to charge forward on the front lines of national defense research.

In 2015, Wang Ji resolutely took the lead in applying for a certain national defense 973 Program project and served as its chief technical expert. It was the only purely software-based project that year oriented toward urgent needs of the state and the military.

After six years of exhausting effort, Wang Ji and his team, targeting software reliability problems across different domains and different types, built a complete "toolbox." In 2021, the project successfully passed its acceptance review, and the comprehensive evaluation report stated: "The overall technical level is at the international forefront and leads domestically; certain comparable indicators are at the international leading level." In January 2025, building on results incubated through the project, Wang Ji was awarded the first-class Military Science and Technology Progress Award (军事科学技术进步奖一等奖), and the relevant technologies have been successfully applied to multiple critical national defense equipment programs.

This is Wang Ji — a Chinese soldier, a vanguard scientific researcher of the military, and a principal pioneer in China's field of highly trustworthy software (高可信软件). With the will to scale the highest peaks and the conviction never to admit defeat, he has "run" from his wheelchair the acceleration that belongs to this era.

Original Chinese

不满14岁考上国防科大，33岁被评定为教授，38岁获国家杰出青年科学基金，荣获国家科学技术进步奖二等奖和多项省部级奖项…… 全速向前的王戟怎么也想不到，命运给了他一记重锤。 2013年，王戟突发主动脉夹层，不得不高位截肢；2021年，被确诊为肾衰竭，随着病情发展一周需三次透析。从“勤学少年”到“轮椅教授”，历经700多次透析，他仍选择冲锋在国防科研一线。 2015年，王戟毅然牵头申请了某国防973项目，并担任技术首席专家。这是当年面向国家和军队急需的唯一纯软件项目。历经6年殚精竭虑，王戟和团队针对不同领域、不同类型的软件可靠性问题，打造出一套“工具箱”。2021年，项目顺利通过验收，综合评价报告这样写道：“整体技术水平处于国际前列、国内领先，部分可比指标处于国际领先。”2025年1月，依托项目孵化的成果，王戟获评军事科学技术进步奖一等奖，相关技术成功应用于多项关键国防装备。这就是王戟，一名中国军人，一名军队科研尖兵，我国高可信软件领域的主要开拓者。他以勇攀高峰的意志和永不言败的信念，在轮椅上“跑出”了属于这个时代的加速度。