The Five Eyes alliance has taken decisive action to stop China from recruiting Western military pilots to train its air force, a move crucial for Beijing’s plans to potentially invade Taiwan. Using private firms to hide its intentions, China has lured retired Western aviators with high salaries to gain valuable combat experience and tactics. The alliance issued a joint warning and imposed restrictions on companies aiding China, aiming to curb this covert strategy. With China’s military lacking real-world combat experience, these efforts by the West are seen as essential to maintaining regional security and countering Beijing’s aggressive ambitions.
Xin Ning and Cindy Li from the Epoch Times reported that the Five Eyes (FVEY) alliance made efforts earlier in June to prohibit Western military aviators from training Beijing’s military and naval aviators, which military experts believe are critical for Beijing’s ability to strike Taiwan.
On June 5, the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC), which represents the FVEY (the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand), issued a joint bulletin warning about the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) efforts to recruit current and retired Western military personnel to train its forces.
“To overcome their shortcomings, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has been aggressively recruiting Western military talent to train their aviators, using private firms around the globe that conceal their PLA ties and offer recruits exorbitant salaries,” said NCSC Director Michael C. Casey.
To counter this threat, the United States and its Western partners have imposed commercial restrictions on the Test Flying Academy of South Africa (TFASA), Beijing China Aviation Technology Co. (BCAT), Stratos, and other PLA providers who exploit Western and NATO personnel, as well as legal and regulatory changes that prohibit former military members from working for China after they leave the military.
Tony Xia, a military specialist and commentator, stated that pilots with real combat experience are few in China.
“It takes at least five years to train a fighter pilot.” The pilot is required to fly for the rest of his or her service life,” he told The Epoch Times.
He went on to say that the CCP’s primary motive for hiring experienced aviators from Western forces is to mimic Western training systems, methods, and expertise.
“In the past few decades, China’s fourth-generation fighters have hardly experienced any real-world combat experience,” according to him.
CCP Preparation to Attack Taiwan
Zhang Yanting, former deputy commander of Taiwan’s Air Force and current professor at Taiwan’s National Defense University’s Political Warfare College, feels that the CCP’s actions are a prelude to a true war in the Taiwan Strait.
Retired pilots contribute combat experience, something the PLA needs. They may share their valuable experience with the CCP military regarding real-world battle scenarios, threats, and how to fully utilize their combat capability, he told The Epoch Times.
Furthermore, each of them specializes in a distinct type of aircraft: fighters, anti-submarine warfare aircraft, and carrier planes.
Qi Leyi, a renowned media figure and military critic in Taiwan, stated that the CCP cherishes the practical operational experience of recruited veteran Western commanders.
The people on the front lines are very important. He told The Epoch Times that in addition to learning new skills, students can also gain intelligence and information.
CCP’s History of Recruiting Western Military
The CCP’s recruitment of Western retired pilots has been known since 2022, including incidents like the TFASA in South Africa, which was approved by the US Department of Commerce in June 2023.
While TFASA denied involvement in confidential military training and employing American and British citizens, Daniel Duggan, a former Marine Corps pilot and Australian citizen who was extradited to the United States, was a TFASA trainer who taught Chinese pilots how to land on aircraft carriers.
After more than ten years in the United States military, Mr. Duggan relocated to Australia and started Top Gun Tasmania, a firm that employs former US and British military pilots to supply jets for tourists to ride in.
Mr. Duggan, who holds an Airline Transport Pilot’s Licence issued by the United States and Australia, has flown the AV-8B Harrier, T2C Buckeye, and A4J Skyhawk. In May, he admitted to cooperating with Chinese agent Su Bin, who acquired US military secrets but denied being aware of his status as a spy.
In the United Kingdom, it was revealed in 2022 that the Chinese military had recruited up to 30 former British pilots at hefty salaries (up to around $270,000 per year). The pilots were recruited through third parties, including a flight academy in South Africa, and they had previously served in the British military, not simply the Royal Air Force.
The CCP is also looking for skilled French instructors to assist Chinese pilots through carrier landings and teach them NATO air force techniques. Aside from the United States and China, France is one of the few countries with catapult-equipped aircraft carriers.
According to Ou Si-Fu, the head of the Division of Chinese Politics, Military, and Warfighting Concepts at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, the CCP recruits retired Western carrier-based aircraft pilots to train its carrier pilots and absorb Western carrier combat tactics.
Landing a fighter plane on a narrow carrier deck is an extremely difficult undertaking. He stated that the CCP is beginning from scratch in terms of combat operations and will require training from Western nations. Carrier battle methods are national secrets that no country is ready to teach Beijing directly, so the dictatorship is enticing retired Western pilots with high pay.
Mr. Xia stated that the CCP’s goal in creating aircraft carriers is to accomplish its “Deep Blue Dream,” which is “a way to compete for regional and world hegemony.”
“For the CCP, the training of carrier pilots is basically blank. Western experience is of course very important for it,” he said. “The U.S. Navy, when observing the take-off and landing of Chinese carrier aircraft, exclaimed about their dangerous [amateurish] maneuvers.”
Mr. Ou believes that the CCP uses a similar strategy to permeate Taiwanese society, absorbing retired military personnel in order to obtain Taiwan’s military secrets and attracting semiconductor professionals in exchange for advanced industrial secrets.
Taiwan and democratic Western nations must remain watchful against the CCP’s illicit actions to steal defense, military, and advanced industrial secrets, he warned.
Recently, GreatGameIndia reported that, according to a recent Bloomberg report, the world’s top chipmakers can flip a ‘kill switch’ should China invade Taiwan, effectively admitting that the semiconductor chips you’re buying come with a kill switch.