China launches ‘INSIDIOUS’ plot to DUPE U.S. pilots and aerospace technicians into training Beijing’s military, Pentagon says in dire warning

China is targeting serving and former US military personnel in an elaborate plot to boost the training of its own growing armed forces, the Pentagon has warned.

Beijing is trying to obtain and use the expertise of the Americans to fill ‘gaps’ in the knowledge of its own troops, according to a leaked memo obtained by the WashingtonPost.

The plan involves encouraging international companies to work with Chinese companies to recruit current and former members of the U.S. military.

Chinese companies linked to the ruling Communist Party then try to extract valuable information from them.

An internal document released by the U.S. Air Force last week told service members to be alert to suspicious job postings.

It was written by Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., chief of staff of the Air Force, whom President Joe Biden has nominated to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The top general warned that the Chinese business community, with connections to the country’s government, was encouraging international partners to hire “US and NATO-trained military talent.”

These individuals are offered positions as consultants, advisors and trainers.

General Brown wrote, “By actually training the trainer, many of those who accept contracts with these foreign companies are undermining our national security, endangering the safety of their fellow service members and the country itself.”

Military personnel and veterans are being targeted by recruitment opportunities that initially appear to have no national security implications.

Some of them have reportedly been approached personally at defense industry conferences.

Officials told the Washington Post it was an “insidious” plan by Beijing.

They warned service members that if a job offer “seems too good to be true, it probably is.”

Two Chinese SU-30 fighter jets take off from an unknown location to fly a patrol over the South China Sea.

Relations between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Joe Biden have soured. They are pictured here at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, November 14, 2022

The FBI said: “The Chinese government is engaged in a broad, diverse campaign of theft and malign influence, regardless of laws or international norms.”

It came days after it was reported that Chinese nationals posing as tourists had made up to 100 attempts to gain access to US military installations and report back to Beijing.

They were called “gate-crashers” and officials warned that they were engaging in a form of espionage.

Relations between Washington and Beijing have deteriorated since a Chinese spy balloon flew over the US earlier this year.

Amid fears of Chinese aggression against Taiwan, the US has sought to improve communications between the world’s two largest economies.

Earlier this week, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo visited Beijing and met with senior Chinese officials.