“No. 1 Threat”: Britain red-faced as China lures RAF pilots with hefty pay packets

Virendra Pandit

New Delhi: Imagine the British Royal Air Force (RAF) pilots training their Chinese counterparts in warfare!

On Tuesday, the British government said it was taking “decisive steps” against a Chinese recruitment drive to lure in former and serving British air force pilots to train its military personnel.

The practice started in 2019 but has been stepped up recently.

According to the British media, over 30 former pilots had accepted the Chinese offers of over £240,000 (Rs. 2.40 crore) per annum. Many of those recruited are in their 50s and have recently left the British air force.

In contrast, the average RAF Pilot’s yearly pay in the United Kingdom is approximately  £14,348 (Rs.13.3 lakh), which is 61 percent below the national average, reports said.

While British military personnel frequently take part in training exercises with foreign armies, any collusion by ex-pilots with China—which London has dubbed the “Number One Treat” to domestic and global security — poses a serious concern, the media reported on Tuesday.

“We are taking decisive steps to stop Chinese recruitment schemes attempting to headhunt serving and former UK armed forces pilots to train the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) personnel,” a spokesperson for the British defense ministry said.

James Heappey, British Minister of State (Minister for Armed Forces and Veterans) at the Ministry of Defence, said that such collaboration “has been a concern within the ministry for years”

“Our counter-intelligence people have been looking at it closely,” he said.

“The recruitment of our pilots to understand the capabilities of our air force is clearly a concern to us and the intelligence part of the ministry of defense.”

Heappey said that officials had been warning pilots involved to quit.

“We are going to put into law that once people have been given that warning, it would become an offense to then go forward and continue with that training,” he said.

Britain’s defense ministry said it was “reviewing the use of confidentiality contracts and non-disclosure agreements”, adding that all serving and former personnel are subject to the Official Secrets Act, which prohibits the UK’s public servants from sharing state secrets with foreign powers.

“The new National Security Bill will create additional tools to tackle contemporary security challenges – including this one,” the spokesperson added.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin denied any knowledge of such employment of British pilots, telling a regular press briefing: “I am not aware of the circumstances you mentioned.”

Relations between London and Beijing soured after China’s crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in former British colony Hong Kong and disputes over technology giant Huawei’s involvement in the roll-out of Britain’s 5G network, as well as concerns about human rights and influence peddling.

In a speech in London this month, the director of Britain’s GCHQ spy agency, Jeremy Fleming, warned China’s growing technological dominance was “an increasingly urgent problem” for Western countries, urging them to act to defend their values and influence.