The revelation has everything of a counterintelligence novel and it is quite stunning. Over the past three years, China has brought in no less than 30 former British Air Force pilots. To train his own men in the latest Western combat tactics. So says a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense in London.
The system goes through a fairly simple cover: the pilots, generally young army retirees, between 50 and 60 years old, are approached, one by one, by headhunters, to come and give lessons in an Air Academy in South Africa, for a very significant fee: 275,000 euros per year. Except that the students of the Academy are mainly Chinese. And the questions asked relate largely to NATO’s combat techniques and engagement strategies. This recruitment system started three years ago; then it was suspended, of course, during the Covid-19 pandemic, before resuming in an accelerated fashion in recent months.
According to the British ministry, no pilot in practice accepted the proposal. No more pilots with knowledge of the F35s, the latest generation fighters. But some have been approached. And above all those who accepted are still soldiers who master older devices, Typhoons, Jaguars or Tornados. So this obviously raises serious security issues.
The British government does not currently have the legal tools to prevent retired pilots from accepting contracts of this type. London ensures that no defense secret has been broken, but how can you be sure? The British also claim that other Western countries have been targeted by this method, but again, no details, no certainty.
This revelation is a way for the British authorities to dissuade anyone from accepting this kind of proposal from now on. The British government announces its intention to tighten confidentiality clauses in order to prevent any disclosure of sensitive information. And make them liable to prosecution. Prime Minister Liz Truss also seems determined to officially call China a “threatens” for the UK. But as she is, politically, on an ejection seat, it is not sure that she will follow through with her intentions.
For its part, China categorically denies having used this recruitment technique. “I don’t know what you’re talking about”, replied the spokesperson for Chinese diplomacy Wang Wenbin on Tuesday morning when a journalist asked him the question during a press briefing. But this information is nevertheless coherent when we compare it to the will displayed by President Xi Jinping to modernize his army at a forced march in the years to come. This episode, in any case, will not fix relations between London and Beijing. Relations are already very tense, after the exclusion of the giant Huawei from the call for tenders on the 5G network in the United Kingdom and also because of Chinese repression in the former British territory of Hong Kong.