China is paying Western ex-defense pilots to train its own army, the UK MoD says. In recent years, around thirty ex-servicemen from Great Britain have accepted this offer.

“It’s a lucrative offer,” the BBC quoted an anonymous Western official as saying. These would be amounts up to the equivalent of 270,000 euros. But the British army is urging ex-pilots, including allies, not to cooperate with China’s so-called People’s Liberation Army.

Taiwan escalation

China can use the knowledge and skills it has acquired against the West. For example, if the Taiwan problem escalates. Beijing regards the island as a breakaway province that must be forcibly “reunited” with the mainland if necessary. While Taiwan’s democratically elected government wants to remain independent with defensive support from the West.

The UK encountered the first cases of ex-pilots recruited by China in 2019. However, no evidence was found that the former army personnel broke any law, the UK Ministry of Defense reports. Army pilots had to sign a non-disclosure agreement; they must not divulge confidential information about their tenure.

Great ability

Because of their experience with helicopters and fighter jets, for example, the former pilots are very attractive to China, the anonymous Western official continued. “These are people of great ability who can help the Chinese military improve their tactics and capabilities.”

Beijing has not yet responded to the allegations from London. The news cannot be seen in isolation from the growing assertiveness of the EU, UK, US and other allies towards China. “We are leaving naivety behind us,” Foreign Minister Hoekstra said before an EU meeting in Luxembourg yesterday.