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Australia is following the United Kingdom by investigating whether retired defence pilots have been lured with lucrative contracts to help train the Chinese military in air warfare.
Key points:
- Britain's defence ministry is investigating whether RAF pilots were lured to help train China's military
- Defence Minister Richard Marles has ordered an investigation into whether Australian pilots were also enticed
- Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says new laws are needed to prevent secrets being shared
Britain's Ministry of Defence has announced it is taking immediate steps to "deter and penalise" UK personnel who work for the People's Liberation Army (PLA), following revelations dozens of former RAF pilots are being paid as instructors in China.
A spokesperson from the British Ministry of Defence said the training and the recruiting of pilots did not breach any current UK law but officials there and in other countries were trying to deter the activity.
"It is a lucrative package that is being offered to people," one Western official was cited as saying, adding that "money is a strong motivator".
Some of the Chinese packages are believed to be as much as 237,911 British pounds ($427,067) with British media reporting that a South African flying academy has acted as an intermediary head-hunter for the PLA.
Here, Defence Minister Richard Marles has ordered his department to investigate whether any Australian military personnel may have also been enticed to work for the PLA Air Force.
In a statement, Mr Marles said he would be "deeply shocked and disturbed" if any former Australian personnel were also serving in China.
"When our ADF personnel sign up to the defence force, they do so to serve their country and we are deeply grateful of that," he said.
"I would be deeply shocked and disturbed to hear that there were personnel who were being lured by a pay cheque from a foreign state above serving their own country.
"I have asked the department to investigate these claims and come back to my office with clear advice on this matter."
Calls for new laws to stop secrets and methodologies being handed to China
Former defence minister and now opposition leader Peter Dutton also described the reports as "alarming" and challenged Labor to introduce new laws to prevent the activity.
"My call today is on Richard Marles the defence minster to introduce legislation to deal with this issue. If there is a hole in the legislation now, the Coalition will support a change which will tighten it up," Mr Dutton said.
"We can't allow our secrets and our methodologies to be handed over to another country and particularly not China under President Xi.
"If there is legislation required, we will support that. If the government is not minded to introduce the legislation then the Coalition will introduce that legislation into the parliament."
Mr Dutton said new laws should make it an offence for current and former Australian Defence Force personnel “to disseminate” information to countries where they were not authorised to do so.
US admirals paid hundreds of thousands to work on Australian shipbuilding projects
Concerns have been raised in the United States about the number of retired US admirals being handed lucrative contracts to work on Australian naval shipbuilding programs.
An investigation by the Washington Post found six retired US naval officers have worked for the Australian government since 2015 on contracts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Last year, the defence department and the former Morrison government refused to reveal details of the American-dominated panel advising Australia on submarines when approached by the ABC.
According to the Washington Post, more than 500 retired US military personnel, including dozens of generals and admirals, have taken lucrative jobs since 2015 working for foreign governments, mostly in countries known for human rights abuses and political repression.
Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Pat Ryder says there are strict regulations in place on all former employees of the US Department of Defense.
"For example, they remain bound by laws governing non-disclosure of any non-public government information, this includes classified information or information they may have obtained through their federal employment," he said.
"There are policies, there are laws, there are regulations, they are well established, and it is something that DOD members are educated on, retirees on and you are required to follow them."