Irfan Baloch
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Britain's Ministry of Defence sent serving Royal Air Force pilots to China to teach a course to their Chinese counterparts and allowed Chinese nationals to study at UK military colleges, Sky News can reveal.
Up to four frontline pilots took part in the 'Aviation English Course' in Beijing that ran in 2016, while at least three Chinese nationals have gone through basic officer training at the RAF's college at Cranwell in Lincolnshire.
The most recent Chinese officer is thought to have attended the college in 2019 - a time when the UK and its closest ally, the United States, under then president Donald Trump, were increasingly concerned about security threats from China.
the confusing part is that MOD in UK had sanctioned itself some of the crossover training program sending over its serving pilots while hosting Chinese pilots.
I was little surprised by the excessive reaction by UK/US government over the news of some British former jet and helicopter pilots going over to China to train their pilots.
if after retirement there was no restriction over where they live and work then I don't see the harm unless they divulged some sensitive information like workings of their air forces and operational strategies. for that they didn't have to accept contracts and could've simply passed that information remotely.
the reaction of Blowhard Internet warriors of the west is Hilarious who want these pilots executed by firing squad.
terming it as treason is stretching it too far.
if a military pilot has retired and is seeking to earn a living abroad then why is it suddenly so bad?
there is no open hostility with China? there is no danger of all out military conflict with the west.
in my view this is as far as China will go and will only have trade war if at all.
China is still big trading partner with west worth over $500 Billion as per 2020.
the worse so far has been some diplomatic rants or symbolic sea and air patrols.
looks like the west didnt like retired pilots making some cash from China. if they had better prospects in the west then they wont have gone therre.
Up to four frontline pilots took part in the 'Aviation English Course' in Beijing that ran in 2016, while at least three Chinese nationals have gone through basic officer training at the RAF's college at Cranwell in Lincolnshire.
The most recent Chinese officer is thought to have attended the college in 2019 - a time when the UK and its closest ally, the United States, under then president Donald Trump, were increasingly concerned about security threats from China.
the confusing part is that MOD in UK had sanctioned itself some of the crossover training program sending over its serving pilots while hosting Chinese pilots.
I was little surprised by the excessive reaction by UK/US government over the news of some British former jet and helicopter pilots going over to China to train their pilots.
if after retirement there was no restriction over where they live and work then I don't see the harm unless they divulged some sensitive information like workings of their air forces and operational strategies. for that they didn't have to accept contracts and could've simply passed that information remotely.
the reaction of Blowhard Internet warriors of the west is Hilarious who want these pilots executed by firing squad.
terming it as treason is stretching it too far.
if a military pilot has retired and is seeking to earn a living abroad then why is it suddenly so bad?
there is no open hostility with China? there is no danger of all out military conflict with the west.
in my view this is as far as China will go and will only have trade war if at all.
China is still big trading partner with west worth over $500 Billion as per 2020.
the worse so far has been some diplomatic rants or symbolic sea and air patrols.
looks like the west didnt like retired pilots making some cash from China. if they had better prospects in the west then they wont have gone therre.