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Bombshell claims China tried to recruit Australian ex-fighter pilots to train its armed forces as Defense Ministry launches investigation
- Chinese Communist Party has recruited former Australian RAF pilots to PLA. to train
- 30 ex-fighter pilots have been reported to have been arrested, including retired Australian pilots
- British fighter jet and helicopter pilots are also involved in the ‘major security breach’
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The Chinese government has attempted to recruit retired Australian RAF fighter pilots to train their own armed forces in defeating Western forces.
It is clear that Australians were part of a cohort of 30 pilots who were hounded through a South African flying school, acting as intermediaries for the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the PLA Air Force.
Australian Defense Secretary Richard Marles said his ministry has launched an investigation into the alarming claims.
A Western official has claimed that the target group, which includes British ex-fast jet and helicopter pilots working in China, is targeting more (photo, Typhoon and F15 and F16 jets in action)
Obviously Australians were included in a group of 30 pilots being hunted down to train the PLA (pictured, Chinese troops march out to raise the country’s flag in Tibet)
“When our ADF staff join the defense force, they do it to serve their country and we are very grateful for that,” said Mr. Marles. the Australian this week.
“I would be deeply shocked and alarmed to learn that there were personnel lured by a paycheck from a foreign state serving their own country,” Defense Secretary Richard Marles said.
“I would be deeply shocked and disturbed to learn that there were personnel lured by a paycheck from a foreign state over serving their own country.”
British pilots have also been lured as part of the group by the communist country, with generous pay packages of 237,911 British pounds (AUD$427,067).
A Western official has claimed that the target group, which includes ex-British high-speed jet and helicopter pilots, are working in China, and that there are more targets.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense is taking steps to ‘deter and punish’ British employees who have joined the CCP.
Authorities have floated an idea of a ‘two-strike’ rule to prevent British pilots from collaborating with the Chinese government.
The officers would receive a warning before being prosecuted.
A spokesman for the UK Ministry of Defense said the training and recruitment did not violate current UK law, but the practice had been discouraged.
Defense analyst Francis Tusa said: Sky News the disclosures are a major security breach.
“Let’s face it, China is an enemy,” Tusa said. “As such, we have British subjects who have decided that their interests are served by teaching our enemy how to defeat us – this is incredibly frightening.”
Defense analyst Francis Tusa told Sky News: ‘Let’s face it, China is an enemy’ and said the revelations were ‘incredibly terrifying’ (pictured, Chinese soldiers marching in Beijing)