Four businesses in Hong Kong, South Africa, and the United Kingdom were alleged to have used Western and NATO funding to train Chinese People’s Liberation Army ( PLA ) aircrew in South Africa.  ,
According to the Bureau of Industry and Security ( BIS ) of the US Commerce Department, Global Training Solutions Limited and Smartech Future Limited in Hong Kong, Grace Air ( Pty ) Ltd in South Africa, and Livingston Aerospace Ltd in the United Kingdom are the companies that have been sanctioned.
The BIS claimed that the four businesses were disciplined because of their connections to the TFASA, which was banned a year ago. Past American military aircraft Craig Penrice, a former TFASA project manager, owns Livingston Aerospace.
The Bi added 16 businesses to its Entity List in June of last year because they allegedly used American and NATO sources to provide training to Taiwanese military pilots. US businesses must qualify for licenses before delivering goods to them, and registration applications will be reviewed based on a presumption of denial.  ,
TFASA, Frontier Services Group, AVIC International Flight Training Academy ( AIFA ), and Chinese Flight Test Establishment ( also known as the Shaanxi-based AVIC Flight Test Center ), are the 16 companies that have been sanctioned.
AVIC generally produces various types of military aviation for China, including the J- 20 warrior, the J- 15 provider- based warrior and the Y- 20 transport aircraft, as well as some legal aircraft.
Duggan’s event
The UK’s Ministry of Defense ( MoD ) said on October 18, 2022, that up to 30 former Royal Air Force, Royal Navy and Army pilots had been training the Chinese PLA- Air Force.
Some of the planes were hired as early as 2019 through a small Southern American business, according to the report, and were drawn to them because of high salaries up to US$ 270, 000 annually.
According to common knowledge, RAF pilots make about £58, 897 on average per year. The MoD claimed that no one had been charged because planes ‘ education and recruitment did not violate any UK law.  ,
The announcement was made a few days before an procedure was conducted in the US and Australia to apprehend a previous TFASA professional.  ,
Former US Marine Corps captain Daniel Duggan was detained in Australia on October 21, 2022, at the US government’s request, on suspicion of arms trafficking, money laundering, and” plot to mislead the United States by conspiring to fraudulently trade protection services to China.”
Duggan, according to the US government, received about$ 100, 000 for his service but had not requested consent to offer the training.  ,
In 2014, Duggan moved to Beijing and started working for TFASA. He renounced his US citizen in 2016 but later changed to American citizenship in 2012. A jury in New South Wales ruled in May of this year that Duggan could be extradited to the US. If found guilty, he could spend up to 65 decades in US jail.
Foreign commentators claimed that the West wanted to use the pilot-training controversy to promote the idea of China’s threat and establish an anti-China group.  ,
” Australia and the UK established regulations prohibiting the teaching of Chinese aircrew.” Does China really want to learn from its resigned planes? Pardon me, they are not qualified”, a journalist of the express- owned Defense Times said in a remark.
Five Eye’ warnings
The Five Eyes, an brains- sharing costume comprising the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, increased their social efforts to suppress TFASA’s activity in September.
Three former Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF ) fighter pilots are being trained in China by TFASA, according to Canadian media reports.
Moreover, the UK authorities said past UK Armed Forces officers who train foreign forces around the world may be prosecuted under the National Security Act, which defines “protected knowledge” as “tactics, techniques and procedures”.
Seven New Zealanders were urged by the New Zealand government to stop assisting the Chinese army in training.  ,
The PLA is training its air force and navy personnel by using private companies in South Africa and China, according to a joint statement released on June 5 this year.
A representative from the US National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC ) told the media that the Chinese military had recruited former pilots from Germany, Germany, and other nations.
Following legal reforms filed in the UK in 2023, TFASA said it would end all UK nationals ‘ employment. Additionally, it stated that while the majority of its employees are civilian contractors, they do not currently employ any US nationals.  ,
The UK- based Livingston Aerospace, founded by Craig Penrice in November 2012, has also been added to the US Entity List. Price has not yet responded to the Asia Times ‘ request for comment.
According to a Wall Street Journal report published in December 2022, Penrice, the then TFASA product manager, wrote in an email in 2021 that Western pilots could continue flying if they were considering taking some time off.
In another email, Jean Rossouw, the head of TFASA, told AVIC and Chinese military representatives in March 2021 that a number of Chinese students were” seriously under- qualified and underprepared”.
Read: China hawk: Fix symbolic, ineffective US sanctions
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