Britain’s Ministry of Defence sent serving Royal Air Force pilots to China to teach a course to their Chinese counterparts and allowed Chinese nationals to study at UK military colleges, Sky News can reveal.
Up to four frontline pilots took part in the ‘Aviation English Course’ in Beijing that ran in 2016, while at least three Chinese nationals have gone through basic officer training at the RAF’s college at Cranwell in Lincolnshire.
The most recent Chinese officer is thought to have attended the college in 2019 – a time when the UK and its closest ally, the United States, under then president Donald Trump, were increasingly concerned about security threats from China.
A former senior British officer also told Sky News that he had been aware in the past of a number of Chinese nationals who had studied at the Joint Services Command and Staff College at Shrivenham in Swindon – which caters for more senior military personnel from across the army, navy and air force.
“The joke was that they were always on the photocopier the whole time,” the source said.
A Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesperson said no “fast jet flight training, or any other sensitive training” was ever provided to the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).
The MoD issued a “threat alert” to caution serving and former personnel against accepting such offers of employment, and officials said they were urgently planning to change the law to make that kind of activity illegal.
But the warnings prompted sources with knowledge of official government-to-government ties between the UK and China to point out that London had previously conducted its own defence training activities with Beijing.
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They said it was a bit odd to suddenly turn on this private initiative now without providing the wider context, especially as the former pilots’ work had been declared to officials over many years without prompting such stark objections – even as recently as September of this year.
“So, on the one hand, the MoD is happy to provide international defence training opportunities when the political agenda suits, but now will critique individuals for similar actions,” one source said.
“I am not saying that justifies such a choice [by the former pilots] but you can see that the narratives aren’t quite consistent with what MoD personnel are asked to do.”
‘I’m sure more than English language got talked about’
UK government policy on China was very different a decade ago.
Then prime minister David Cameron sought to strengthen relations with China in what by 2015 he called a “golden era” in bilateral ties.
However, even when ministers were prioritising economic growth, defence officials were well aware of the Chinese security risks, with concern expressed internally about the balance between security and the so-called “prosperity agenda”.
Yet a number of China-UK military interactions still took place, including the Aviation English Course, a separate source said.
They said it “consisted of helping the People’s Liberation Army Air Force learn how to run overseas military deployments”.
Image: Several Chinese nationals did basic initial officer training at RAF Cranwell
The source said about two to four serving RAF pilots were sent to Beijing to teach the course from 5-26 September 2016.
“It was very specific that it had to be frontline military aviators in current flying practice, so I am sure more than English language got talked about.”
The source added that they thought the title Aviation English Course was “a misnomer – why send military pilots rather than teachers?”
Another engagement was to allow a number of Chinese nationals to go through basic initial officer training at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire.
Two Chinese nationals – Lieutenant G Huang and Captain S Tong – were on the course in 2015 as the UK government was taking a more favourable view on China.
A defence source said they had both been due to train as engineers back in China and did not receive any RAF pilot training or engineering training.
A third Chinese national also went through the training course as recently as 2019 – a year when UK-China relations were on the decline over concerns about espionage, mobile phone technology, Hong Kong and the treatment of Uyghur Muslims and other minority ethnic groups in the Chinese province of Xinjiang.
The defence source said such basic training is conducted across all three services, including the army and the navy, with participants from a range of countries – both friendly and those the UK is seeking to build relationships with.
Such low-level, non-specialist training can be a useful way to build understanding, break down cultural barriers and improve military-to-military relationships.
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The MoD declined to respond to questions about the Aviation English Course or about the claims regarding Chinese nationals attending the Joint Services Command and Staff College at Shrivenham.
Questions also remain about why – given the growing concern about China – it took the UK until this month to raise the alarm about former British fast jet and helicopter pilots accepting contracts to train the Chinese military.
A South African company that has hired a number of the individuals involved said its employees have been in “regular” contact with the UK Ministry of Defence since the firm was established in 2003.
“The MoD has not raised any issue regarding any aspect of the training provided by the company or its employees,” a spokesperson for the Test Flying Academy of South Africa (TFASA) said.
“As recently as September 2022, a TFASA employee was invited to an interview with MoD personnel in the UK, with no concerns raised by the representatives from the MoD present.”
The spokesperson also rejected UK claims that its work with the Chinese posed any kind of security threat.
“TFASA’s employees are subject to a very clear company ethics protocol in relation to sensitive information and are also governed by national obligations as to secrecy,” they said.
Labour’s shadow defence secretary John Healey said the government has “serious questions” to answer.
“The first duty of any government is to protect our nation’s security,” he said in a statement.
“The Tories have been too slow to emerge from their ‘golden era’ with China and repeatedly blasé about security threats. This official deployment could have compromised details of UK military operations, technology and training to a foreign power, posing a significant threat to our national security.
“Ministers must answer serious questions about why they backed this activity and what risks it poses. The public also want reassurance on the actions taken to halt it.”
Another 23 female potential victims have reported that they may have been raped by Zhenhao Zou – the Chinese PhD student detectives believe may be one of the country’s most prolific sex offenders.
The Metropolitan Police launched an international appeal after Zou, 28, was convicted of drugging and raping 10 women following a trial at the Inner London Crown Court last month.
Detectives have not confirmed whether the 23 people who have come forward add to their estimates that more than 50 other women worldwide may have been targeted by the University College London student.
Metropolitan Police commander Kevin Southworth said: “We have victims reaching out to us from different parts of the globe.
“At the moment, the primary places where we believe offending may have occurred at this time appears to be both in England, here in London, and over in China.”
Image: Metropolitan Police commander Kevin Southworth
Zou lived in a student flat in Woburn Place, near Russell Square in central London, and later in a flat in the Uncle building in Churchyard Row in Elephant and Castle, south London.
He had also been a student at Queen’s University Belfast, where he studied mechanical engineering from 2017 until 2019. Police say they have not had any reports from Belfast but added they were “open-minded about that”.
“Given how active and prolific Zou appears to have been with his awful offending, there is every prospect that he could have offended anywhere in the world,” Mr Southworth said.
“We wouldn’t want anyone to write off the fact they may have been a victim of his behaviour simply by virtue of the fact that you are from a certain place.
“The bottom line is, if you think you may have been affected by Zhenhao Zou or someone you know may have been, please don’t hold back. Please make contact with us.”
Image: Pic: Met Police
Zou used hidden or handheld cameras to record his attacks, and kept the footage and often the women’s belongings as souvenirs.
He targeted young, Chinese women, inviting them to his flat for drinks or to study, before drugging and assaulting them.
Zou was convicted of 11 counts of rape, with two of the offences relating to one victim, as well as three counts of voyeurism, 10 counts of possession of an extreme pornographic image, one count of false imprisonment and three counts of possession of a controlled drug with intent to commit a sexual offence, namely butanediol.
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Mr Southworth said: “Of those 10 victims, several were not identified so as we could be sure exactly where in the world they were, but their cases, nevertheless, were sufficient to see convictions at court.
“There were also, at the time, 50 videos that were identified of further potential female victims of Zhenhao Zou’s awful crimes.
“We are still working to identify all of those women in those videos.
“We have now, thankfully, had 23 victim survivors come forward through the appeal that we’ve conducted, some of whom may be identical with some of the females that we saw in those videos, some of whom may even turn out to be from the original indicted cases.”
Mr Southworth added: “Ultimately, now it’s the investigation team’s job to professionally pick our way through those individual pieces of evidence, those individual victims’ stories, to see if we can identify who may have been a victim, when and where, so then we can bring Zou to justice for the full extent of his crimes.”
Mr Southworth said more resources will be put into the investigation, and that detectives are looking to understand “what may have happened without wishing to revisit the trauma, but in a way that enables [the potential victims] to give evidence in the best possible way.”
The Metropolitan Police is appealing to anyone who thinks they may have been targeted by Zou to contact the force either by emailing survivors@met.police.uk, or via the major incident public portal on the force’s website.
An 11-year-old girl who went missing after entering the River Thames has been named as Kaliyah Coa.
An “extensive search” has been carried out after the incident in east London at around 1.30pm on Monday.
Police said the child had been playing during a school inset day and entered the water near Barge House Causeway, North Woolwich.
A recovery mission is now said to be under way to find Kaliyah along the Thames, with the Metropolitan Police carrying out an extensive examination of the area.
Image: Barge House Causeway is a concrete slope in North Woolwich leading into the Thames
Chief Superintendent Dan Card thanked members of the public and emergency teams who responded to “carry out a large-scale search during a highly pressurised and distressing time”.
He also confirmed drone technology and boats were being used to “conduct a thorough search over a wide area”.
He added: “Our specialist officers are supporting Kaliyah’s family through this deeply upsetting time and our thoughts go out to all those impacted by what has happened.”
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“Equally we appreciate this has affected the wider community who have been extremely supportive. You will see extra officers in the area during the coming days.”
On Monday, Kerry Benadjaoud, a 62-year-old resident from the area, said she heard of the incident from her next-door neighbour, who “was outside doing her garden and there was two little kids running, and they said ‘my friend’s in the water'”.
When she arrived at the scene with a life ring, a man told her he had called the police, “but he said at the time he could see her hands going down”.
Barge House Causeway is a concrete slope that goes directly into the River Thames and is used to transport boats.
Residents pointed out that it appeared to be covered in moss and was slippery.
Major developers will only deal with one regulator under planning reforms which ministers say will “rewire the system” to get Britain building – all while protecting the environment.
A review by former Labour adviser Dan Corry into Britain’s sluggish system of green regulation has concluded that existing environmental regulators should remain in place, while rejecting a “bonfire of regulations”.
But Mr Corry suggested there might be circumstances in which the government look at changing the wildlife and habit rules inherited from the EU, which protect individual species.
The government has now explicitly ruled out any such change in this parliament.
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Campaigners have questioned whether the changes go far enough and will make a major difference to the rate and scale of building in the UK.
Speaking to Sky News, Environment Secretary Steve Reed insisted that accepting nine of the recommendations from the Corry review would amount to wholesale reform.
The minister said: “We can get a win-win for economic growth and for nature. And that is why we are moving ahead with proposals such as appointing a lead regulator for major developments so that the developers don’t have to navigate the architecture of multiple regulators.
“They just work for a single regulator who manages all the others on their behalf. Simplifying the online planning portal.
“These are huge changes that will save developers billions of pounds and speed up decisions doing damage to the environment.”
Mr Reed insisted that there would be “no more bat tunnels” built, even though the Corry review suggests that more work needs to be done to look again at the relevant guidance.
It says: “Rapidly reviewing the existing catalogue of compliance guidance, including on protecting bats, will identify opportunities to remove duplication, ambiguity or inconsistency.
“Natural England has already agreed to review and update their advice to Local Planning Authorities on bats to ensure there is clear, proportionate and accessible advice available.”
The review will mean:
• Appointing one lead regulator for every major infrastructure project, like Heathrow expansion
• A review on how nature rules are implemented – but not the rules themselves
• Insisting regulators focus more on government priorities, particularly growth
Economist and former charity leader Mr Corry, who led the review, said it shows that “simply scrapping regulations isn’t the answer”.
“Instead we need modern, streamlined regulation that is easier for everyone to use. While short-term trade-offs may be needed, these reforms will ultimately deliver a win-win for both nature and economic growth in the longer run.”
However, Sam Richards from Britain Remade, a thinktank trying to get Britain growing, said that while the steps are welcome, the number of regulators that report to the environment department would remain the same before and after the review. He questioned whether this would have the impact ministers claimed.