The threat of Chinese headhunters

It is hard to say what is more shocking, dozens of former British military pilots lured by vast salaries to work for China’s People’s Liberation Army or the fact there appears to be no law to stop it. At least 30 experienced pilots, who have flown Typhoon, Jaguar, Harrier and Tornado fighters, as well as piloting advanced helicopters used for anti-submarine warfare, have been lured to China on packages worth as much as $270,000 dollars, according to the Ministry of Defence. The information they are passing on will be especially important should there be a conflict over Taiwan, and the PLA comes face to face with western military aircraft. It must also be seen in the context of a rapid expansion and modernisation of the Chinese military – on a scale rarely seen in peacetime, and for which the Communist party is employing every possible means.

Attempts to headhunt pilots have reportedly been ramped up recently, prompting the UK to issue an intelligence alert, though the MoD says that astonishingly neither the recruitment nor the training breaches any current UK law.