UK 'deeply uncomfortable' its ex-military pilots are training Chinese army
Armed forces minister James Heappey has said the government is "deeply uncomfortable" the Chinese army has headhunted former British military pilots to train its personnel.
A Western official confirmed on Tuesday that up to 30 former British pilots are believed to have trained members of China’s People’s Liberation Army for salaries of around £240,000 a year.
The pilots are reported to have served across the British military and not just in the Royal Air Force. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has issued an intelligence alert warning pilots against taking part.
Additionally, the government will seek to change the law to punish military pilots who train the Chinese army.
"To be clear, it's not illegal at the moment to do what they're doing, but it would have been illegal had they been compromising any UK secrets," Mr Heappey said.
"We're deeply uncomfortable with it as a practice and we're going to change the law through the National Security Bill, so once they've been warned what they're doing is prejudicial to the national interest, it would be committing a criminal offence to continue to do it thereafter."
He added the government has made contact with some of the pilots in question.
Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the Commons Defence Committee, tweeted that there are “serious questions for the RAF”, adding: “We should not be surprised by China’s audacity in luring UK pilots to learn about our tactics. But we should be surprised there’s nothing akin to the ‘Official Secrets Act’ preventing this – And the absence of patriotism of those involved.”
In a statement, MoD said: “We are taking decisive steps to stop Chinese recruitment schemes attempting to headhunt serving and former UK Armed Forces pilots to train People’s Liberation Army personnel in the People’s Republic of China,” a MoD spokesperson said.
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The MoD's warning comes as Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for faster military development as he tightened the ruling Communist Party’s control over society and the economy.
In a televised speech on Sunday, Xi said the party’s military wing, the People’s Liberation Army, needs to “safeguard China’s dignity and core interests,” referring to a list of territorial claims and other issues over which Beijing says it is ready to go to war.
China has the world’s second-largest military spending after the United States and is trying to extend its reach by developing ballistic missiles, aircraft carriers and overseas outposts.