Ex-defence chief demands inquiry into ‘what the hell is going on’

An ex-defence chief has called for an inquiry after it was revealed that former RAF Top Guns are training Chinese fighter pilots. It was earlier this month revealed that up to 30 former military pilots had gone to train members of China’s People’s Liberation Army.The Ministry of Defence said it was working to put a stop to the training of Chinese fighters by officials from the UK.A spokesperson said: ‘We are taking decisive steps to stop Chinese recruitment schemes attempting to headhunt serving and former UK Armed Forces pilots to train People’s Liberation Army personnel in the People’s Republic of China.’Admiral Lord Alan West has insisted the Government must go further and launch an official probe.The 74-year-old former head of the Royal Navy described China as a ‘threat’ and stressed that its recruitment of British troops was unacceptable. Ex-defence chief demands inquiry as former RAF Top Guns training China’s fighter pilots. (Image: Getty)He told MailOnline: ‘China is a threat to our nation and British fighter pilots should just not be going out there to train the Chinese.’We have trained these pilots at immense cost – it probably costs British taxpayers £4.5million for each pilot – and I’m not at all happy that they are passing on all this training on to the Chinese.’We really do need to look at this and see what the bloody hell is going on. We need to close this loophole.’We need to get to the bottom of what is going on and we need to put a stop to it.’READ MORE: BBC crisis as broadcaster loses ground to rival LBC Xi Jinping. (Image: Getty)Armed forces minister James Heappey told Sky News such recruitment by China had been a concern within the Ministry of Defence for a ‘number of years’.He said: ‘China is a competitor that is threatening the UK interest in many places around the world. It’s also an important trading partner.’But there is no secret in their attempt to gain access to our secrets and the recruitment of pilots in order to understand the capabilities of our air force is clearly a concern to us.’DON’T MISS: Hated Brexit deal ‘could shatter UK’ [OPINION] Farage blasts those blaming conflict in Ukraine for inflation [NEWS] Britons blast Tories and Labour who are ‘as bad as each other’ [OPINION] Admiral Lord Alan West. (Image: Getty)Reports suggest the Chinese military lured retired RAF pilots with annual salaries of around £240,000.Others show pilots have been told they will be prosecuted if they are found to have shared state secrets during training in China.The Ministry of Defence said it was ‘reviewing the use of confidentiality contracts and non-disclosure agreements’. Rishi Sunak. (Image: Getty)One pilot, quoted in the Mail, said such training has been taking place for as long as two decades.Speaking on condition of anonymity, they said: ‘It would make your eyes water, it’s been happening for that long, clandestinely. At first I thought it was a two-way thing, with us getting as much information from the Chinese as we were passing to them. But I don’t think so any more.’It is just about money and there is nothing in place to stop it.’