BREAKING WORLD WAR III NEWS: CHINA’S MILITARY IS ACTIVELY RECRUITING EX-BRITISH AIR FORCE PILOTS
China’s military is headhunting ex-British Air Force pilots for their training skills and expertise — and the U.K. government is working to stop it, the U.K.’s Ministry of Defence said Tuesday.
“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,” an MOD spokesperson told CNBC in a statement.
Some 30 former British military pilots are believed to have gone to work for China to train personnel in its People’s Liberation Army, according to a BBC report on the topic published Tuesday. Recruitment is said to be ramping up, with former pilots being offered large paychecks to work for the Chinese.
“All serving and former personnel are already subject to the Official Secrets Act, and we are reviewing the use of confidentiality contracts and non-disclosure agreements across Defence, while the new National Security Bill will create additional tools to tackle contemporary security challenges – including this one,” the MOD spokesperson added.
While training and recruiting pilots is not illegal under U.K. law, the practice presents an intelligence risk as U.K. officials suspect China’s military aims to learn about tactics and operations employed by Western pilots. This knowledge would come in handy in the event of a conflict over Taiwan, for instance.
China’s Ministry of Defense was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.
Source: CNBC, Natasha Turak
To read more, click here: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/18/chinas-military-is-trying-to-recruit-ex-british-air-force-pilots-for-training-and-intel-uk-says.html
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