Britain’s Ministry of Defense says China is paying former Western defense pilots to train its army. In recent years, about thirty former soldiers from the United Kingdom have accepted this offer.

“It’s a lucrative offer,” the BBC quoted an unnamed Western official as saying. It may concern sums of up to 270,000 euros that have been transferred. But the British military is urging former pilots, including the Allies, not to cooperate with the so-called People’s Liberation Army of China.

China can use the knowledge and skills gained against the West. For example, if the Taiwan issue escalated. Beijing considers the island as a breakaway province, which, if necessary, must be forcibly “reunited” with the mainland. While Taiwan’s democratically elected government wants to remain independent, with defensive backing from the West.

The UK faced its first cases of ex-pilots recruited by China in 2019. However, no evidence was found that ex-army staff had broken any laws, the British Ministry of Defense said. Army pilots had to sign a nondisclosure agreement; They must not share confidential information about their service time.

Because of their experience with helicopters and fighter jets, for example, the former pilots are heavily drawn to China, the anonymous Western official continues. “These are people with great capabilities who can help the Chinese army improve their tactics and skills.”

Beijing has not yet responded to London’s allegations. The news cannot be seen in isolation from the growing insistence on the part of the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and other allies against China. “We are leaving naivety behind,” Foreign Minister Hoekstra said yesterday in Luxembourg ahead of the EU meeting.