Ryan Saavedra – Daily Wire Oct 18, 2022
Communist China has been using headhunters in South Africa to recruit ex-British military pilots to train pilots in China’s People’s Liberation Army, which has left Western officials scrambling to put an end to the practice.
Officials have said China has lured away dozens, potentially around 30 ex-military pilots, from the U.K. by paying them salaries of around $270,000 per year.
The New York Times reported that the U.K. is now working with allied nations to put an end to Beijing snatching away ex-military personnel due to the national security risks that it poses to the nations.
While none of the ex-military pilots appeared to be breaking criminal laws by helping the Chinese, British officials were determined to “tighten the controls on retired service members” to protect against them helping foreign adversaries in activities that could violate espionage laws, The Times said.
Deborah Haynes at Sky News reported that a defense analyst described the development as a “stunning breach of security” while a former senior military officer called the news “appalling.”
A retired senior @RoyalAirForce officer said: “Wow… that is appalling. What were they thinking?”
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— Deborah Haynes (@haynesdeborah) October 17, 2022
The report noted that none of the former military personnel whisked away by the Chinese have flown the most advanced fighter jets in the Royal Air Force and that most of the pilots had only flown older generation jets.
Still, officials were worried about the practice and are determined to put an end to it.
“We are taking decisive steps to stop Chinese recruitment schemes attempting to head hunt serving and former U.K. Armed Forces pilots to train People’s Liberation Army personnel in the People’s Republic of China,” a spokesman for the Defense Ministry told Times on the condition of anonymity.
“All serving and former personnel are already subject to the Official Secrets Act,” the defense spokesman said, “and we are reviewing the use of confidentiality contracts and nondisclosure agreements across Defense, while the new national security bill will create additional tools to tackle contemporary security challenges — including this one.”
Officials told Sky News that the Chinese were seeking Western pilots because they wanted to know how to “best to counter” the “capabilities” of the fighter jets that NATO countries use.
“It’s not training Chinese pilots on Western jets. It’s taking Western pilots of great experience to help develop Chinese military air force tactics and capabilities,” the official said. “It’s really the Chinese having an understanding of what the latest generation of tactics and approaches and capabilities would be were the Chinese military to get into situations coming up against those types of assets.”
“It's really the Chinese having an understanding of what the latest generation of tactics and approaches and capabilities would be were the Chinese military to get into situations coming up against those types of assets.”
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— Deborah Haynes (@haynesdeborah) October 17, 2022
“All serving and former personnel are already subject to the Official Secrets Act”
As they were when 80 years ago when the Flying Tigers did the same thing, both fighting for a training Chinese pilots in the years before WWII?
Come off it. “Globalism” means people can sell their skills anywhere in the world where they’ll bring the highest pay. That’s the first thing all the Neoliberal economists taught their students from the 1990s on.
If you hadn’t wanted people to learn the lesson you should not have taught it. Too late now that it can be used against you.
$250 000 a year teaching the chinks how to drop bombs on defenceless women,school kids,goat herders,rice farmers civilians,etc. from 50 000 feet altitude?
Where do I sign up?
“It’s nothing personal it’s just business.”
The RAF are the lowest of the low in military circles.
This proves once again the typical calibre of those in their ranks.
Chinless careerist pricks.
Franz makes an excellent point in his comment above, “‘Globalism’ means people can sell their skills anywhere in the world where they’ll bring the highest pay.” .. Mmm I love the smell of karma in the morning.
So, ex-military can go make barrels full of cash as mercenaries fighting for scum in places likes Jewkraine, Syria, all over the place really, and ex military brass can make gobs of money for corrupt weapons corporations or elsewhere in the slimy military industrial complex, but the hypocrites get their diapers in a wad over a few joystick jockeys showing a few chinks how to fly?
2 of the oldest trades in the world. #1- Prostitution. #2 – Mercenary Thatcher said.’Everything has a value’.
nice choice for an opening: “communist china” did ryan been to china and to north korea so he could have remote idea about both systems or is it poor try of setting predefined reader attitude toward china? does manipulative words based on zero knowledge disqualify ryan from being source of valuable information? anyway i didn’t read beyond that point
Most flyboys of my acquaintance are insufferable middle class imbeciles that enjoy Rugger.. and dropping bombs on shopping centres..
even nowadays in the ‘current year’ and that’s because because women and ethnics..contrary to what virgin air and the MOD would have you believe can’t fly for toffee…(and why they teach Charley Chan’s)..
They thoroughly deserve to eat blow torched dog and giant snails in beetle juice… and get a chance to shove a bomb up the old squadron leaders arse..
and if you know anything about chinks..you’ll know that every ‘meal’ ends up like a scrum at the banquet table…
so they should feel right at home..
At least it’s not the other way around.
If they want our pilots, that means they’re behind.
Of the two aircraft in the photo the Typhoon with its Meteor missiles is definitely superior to the Su-27 Flanker knockoff even as neither of them would ever see the (lol) junk F-35 that shot down both them and their wingmen like fish in a barrel.
Just the facts ma’am..