Because of its enormous population, state-driven capitalism, and strategic investments, it has been able to threaten Western economic supremacy. This has sparked fears of economic instability and job losses as a result of the probable decline of Western influence and market share.Furthermore, the West has been concerned about China's military buildup and territorial ambitions. The People's Liberation Army's fast development and modernization, combined with forceful activities in the South China Sea and other disputed regions, have incessantly raised concerns about China's objectives. Military conflict and the destruction of regional security have become major issues for Western states and their allies.China's expanding influence through programmes such as the Belt and Road Initiative has sparked concerns about its goals and potential geopolitical consequences. Concerns have been raised concerning the loss of Western ideals, conventions, and alliances as China expands its influence and establishes deeper connections with countries throughout the world.This astronomical rise of Chinese power and influence has urged the West to take necessary action.  However, China remains undaunted and proceeds to move further with blinding speed and resilience. China has always had an astonishing history of reverse engineering and bringing improvements, especially in the case of military prowess. In the present day, it continues to procure information regarding its main competitors and utilise their own tactics against them, while improving them with their top-of-the-line research and development experts and infrastructure. One area where China has recently been focusing upon, has been aviation and air force combat. To improve their capacities and understanding, China has been utilising many methods to gain advantages through procuring insider information through the big powers of the West.

Recruitment of Pilots from the United Kingdom

Of these Western countries, The United Kingdom, having one the best and most sophisticatedly trained air force and fighter pilots, had been a prime target for China to understand the functioning of Western air warcraft. This had been evident from a fact that has been confirmed by the UK’s Defence Ministry, reiterating that more than 30 retired British military pilots had been recruited by the Chinese forces to train the pilots of the Chinese air forces. These former pilots had been extensively trained within the realms of piloting and air combat and have bountiful information and knowledge pertaining to the western style of air combat and western aircrafts such as Typhoons, Jaguars, Harriers, and Tornadoes. The UK had further confirmed that this recruitment process had been progressing robustly since 2019 and had only come to a halt due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, post which, the cases of pilots going to China had escalated once again(ANI, 2022).

China as a country has been known to be ruthless and the research and development capacity of the Chinese scientists remains unparalleled. They have been known to conduct incredibly accurate reverse engineering processes while further improving the capabilities as well. Through recruiting these retired British pilots, perhaps China seeks to gauge the Western air warfare capacity and understanding their functionality. The prime objective focuses upon the training of the Chinese pilots. These highly experienced British pilots are reservoirs of valuable information to the Chinese. Their experience is a valuable asset and can be exploited to create awareness and possible counter measures against the Western form of aerial warcraft by the Chinese. Further, there remains the possibility that the pilots themselves can be asked to fly the Chinese air vessels and help contribute to the research and development process by suggesting significant improvements and rectifying shortcomings. The British Ministry of Defence has also tried to prevent China from developing their assets and counter measures to the western air forces through the exploitation of retired western personnel. Due to China’s rise as a global power and its rapidly growing economic and military power, the heightened degree of information being provided to the Chinese air force as well as the lessons being taught become severely detrimental for the western world in case China decides to utilise these new tactics within a future conflict, perhaps relating to its long-standing demand for Taiwan. Even though the British Ministry of Defence has been aware of this activity being committed by the Chinese Government, and they have been taking adequate measures to curb these recruitment schemes, they have not been very effective. This has been attributed to China’s strategies to bait and lure these retired British pilots through bribes of large amounts to render their expertise and training to the Chinese military which include packages that have offered up to a staggering amount of USD 270,000 (ANI, 2022).

The most surprising factor remains that there had been no law that had banned this practice when the Chinese had initially started conducting it. Hence why, even when the information had been intercepted and identified, no legal action against China and its military or government could have been taken, neither could the UK put legal charges against their own retired pilots. What this strategy did achieve though, was help create tremendous amounts of tensions and nervousness within the authorities of the West which eventually led to the British Minister of State for the Armed Forces to change the law. Similarly, a few days after the US Government had beckoned to do something similar, a former U.S. pilot had been arrested by the Australian police who had been accused of training Chinese soldiers(Wright, 2023).

Ex-NATO Pilot Recruitment by China

German media Der Spiegel had reported that retired German air force officers had been hired by the Chinese and they had been instructing the Chinese military for years through companies in Seychelles. These German pilots had piloted Eurofighter Typhoon jet and Tornadoes, and they had been administering training to the Chinese fighter pilots in the same area. Much like the bribes offered to the British pilots, the Chinese had also offered huge amounts of money to the German pilots, who had exported their knowledge of piloting western fighter jets, training the Chinese in confidential operational tactics an even helped them with offense scenarios such as an air attack on Taiwan (Honrada, 2023). This instance being reported had led the German Defence Ministry to investigate and further verify that China had been utilising foreign agencies or to recruit retired NATO pilots as teachers and instructors who had been briefing and training the Chinese in not only the basic flight capabilities but also transmitting confidential and sensitive air procedures and tactics. It had also been suspected that one of the ex-pilots had also been recruited and employed by a Chinese spy organisation. This instance had compromised the many flight tactics, plans and deployment strategies of the Bundeswehr and NATO. The scenario is undoubtedly compatible with Beijing's standard tactic, or "grey beard strategy," as characterised by security experts. For years, Chinese authorities have attempted to accept previous decision-makers with privileged information, some of whom have been very recent. According to claims and charges made by politicians, Beijing often bestows honours, conference invitations, and lucrative consultancy contracts on former decision-makers or military officials in Western countries in order to gather data on military value. Furthermore, As previously mentioned, a retired pilot of the US Air Force had been arrested within Australia on the grounds of violating the US arms control law by training the Chinese air forces in air protocols such as conducting landing exercises on aircraft carriers; something that is valuable to the Chinese militaryfor a possible air raid in Taiwan. An indictment released by a US court late in 2022 revealed that the pilot provided military training to theChinese pilots on three occasions between 2010 and 2012 through a South African flying school(Tiwari, 2023).

Conclusion

While China’s hefty offers have played a massive role within the recruitment of these pilots, there have also been a plethora of other reasons why these pilots have in a sense turned their backs on their own country by selling information to the Chinese. In Germany’s context, a report by Der Spiegel noted that German fighter pilots usually retired around the age of 41 due to the deterioration of their vision as well as the weakening of their reflexes; factors that make or break a decisive situation or battle within the realm of air battles. These German pilots who had been flying since the age of 20, had been reportedly earning only a meagre half their wage when they had reached the age of 41, which remains to be inadequate for most to live on their lives, as a result of which the possibility and want for them to engage in secondary work rises.Poor economic and job prospects after retirement may also compel retired NATO fighter pilots to sign training contracts with China, since it is thought that older pilots are uneconomical to train in newer aircraft, leaving them with gloomy career prospects in the commercial aviation business(Honrada, 2023). The case of China remains to be a stadium for critical speculation. China’s rise within the global platform has undoubtedly induced a sense of panic, alarm, and concern within the West. China continues to make its exponentially rising influence all across the globe increasingly evident through its rapid economic and military growth. As a result of which, an attempt to change the status quo of the world order is being made by the growing dominance of China. This shift in the dynamics of power have sparked varying degrees of controversies and apprehensions among nations of the West, especially the USA, leading to a slew of reasons why China’s growth is now being perceived to be threatening. Furthermore, the recruitment of these Western fighter pilots and the resulting information the Chinese obtain through them further stems concern regarding a possible cold war between China and the West within the future. Moreover, the issue of Taiwan still remains to be of prime concern within international relations. The complicated political dynamics and historical tensions between China and Taiwan, as well as China's rising military capabilities and assertive foreign policy, have prompted concerns about the possibility of armed confrontation in the Taiwan Strait. The Chinese Government remains to be very vocal regarding their stance on the issue of Taiwan’s reunification, and it being a part of its territory, as well as it not ruling out the possibility to use force to achieve the reunification, if necessary, which has been backed by the intense military buildup within the region. Gaining knowledge of Western flight patterns and core air exercise may help China create counter programs against any Western allies that might come to Taiwan’s aid if an assault were to happen. Furthermore, with China already being one of the most technologically advanced nations within the world, integrating the Western knowledge and perspective just helps them build upon their dominance and future plans even more, to further improve significantly.

References

1. ANI. (2022, November 25). Pilots hired to help China understand how western planes operate. Retrieved from The Economic Times: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/pilots-hired-to-help-china-understand-how-western-planes-operate/articleshow/95753228.cms?from=mdr
2. Honrada, G. (2023, June 6). Germans the latest to help train China’s fighter pilots. Retrieved from Asia Times: https://asiatimes.com/2023/06/germans-the-latest-to-help-train-chinas-fighter-pilots/
3. Tiwari, S. (2023, June 3). German Fighter Pilots ‘Plot’ Attacking Taiwan For Beijing; China Lures More Western Aviators To Train The PLA. Retrieved from The EurAsian Times: https://eurasiantimes.com/german-fighter-pilots-plot-attacking-taiwan-for-beijing-china/
4. Wright, B. (2023, May 31). China Is Recruiting Former NATO Pilots — Is That OK? Retrieved from WorldCrunch: https://worldcrunch.com/world-affairs/china-military-espionage-west

Pic Courtsey-CIBI Chkravarthi at unsplash.com

(The views expressed are those of the author and do not represent views of CESCUBE.)