It was revealed last week that up to 30 former British pilots had gone to teach members of China's People's Liberation Army. However, the flight school in charge of teaching those pilots stated that no confidential information was passed on when they were offering training to China.
The U.K. Ministry of Defense (MoD) stated it was taking "decisive steps" to block Chinese recruitment programs aiming to poach current and former pilots.
The pilots, some of whom were paid more than £218,000 ($250,000), were not in violation of any U.K. laws, according to the U.K. authorities. Officials claimed that their hiring was connected to a South African aviation academy, nevertheless.
Test Flying Academy of South Africa (TFASA), a South African flying school, has since issued a written statement in which it claims that the business "has been in contact with the UK MoD for many years and they are fully aware of the nature of the company's business"
Despite the fact that some of that training is believed to have taken place in China, the flying school claimed that the MoD was "fully aware" of its activities.
It said "none of its trainers are in possession of legally or operationally sensitive information relating to the national security interests of any country, whether those from where its employees are drawn or in which it provides training".
Last week, the U.K. issued an intelligence notice warning former military pilots not to serve in the Chinese military. Officials said at the time of the alert that the former British pilots were being used to assist understand how Western planes and pilots work, information that could be important in the event of a confrontation.
Officials also cautioned that recruitment had recently increased.
Many of TFASA's instructors had previously served in the armed forces, it said, but the training is "strictly unclassified" and the work is in accordance with South Africa and the nations in which it operates. It further stated that it never aggressively recruits from serving people and that the majority of its employees come from other civilian contractors.
Although officials have warned that a forthcoming national security bill may make it possible to pursue such conduct, the U.K.'s statement noted that present laws were not being infringed.
The fact that authorities issued the very uncommon alert suggests that they may have hoped to discourage people from participating by calling attention to their activities after contact, which did not deter the pilots from continuing their training.
"All serving and former personnel are already subject to the Official Secrets Act, and we are reviewing the use of confidentiality contracts and non-disclosure agreements across defence, while the new National Security Bill will create additional tools to tackle contemporary security challenges - including this one," an MoD spokesperson said, according to a BBC report.
