You can’t buy everything, but the experience of former British army pilots can. According to the Ministry of Defense across the Channel, around thirty soldiers from the Royal Air Force have been recruited by China to transmit their know-how to Beijing, via intermediary headhunters, reports BBC News. This hunt for Western pilots has intensified lately, officials tell the news media.
While the training and recruitment of pilots by a foreign force does not break any law in Britain, according to a ministry spokeswoman quoted in the article, Western countries are nevertheless trying to curb this activity. Indeed, the information delivered by former Western pilots could become particularly sensitive in the event of a conflict, “for example above Taiwan”, underlines BBC News. “We need highly experienced Western pilots to help develop the tactics and capabilities of China’s military air force,” said a Western official.
But the sums offered by Beijing are attractive and “money is an important motivating factor”, points out a Western official interviewed by the British media, according to whom some of these offers can reach up to 273,062 euros.