Retired RAF pilots who went to China to train its air force were also tasked with stealing its military secrets, Whitehall sources have revealed.
It emerged earlier in the week that British defence intelligence issued a rare “threat alert”, warning that China’s military recruited serving and former RAF jet pilots to help train its own air force.
One official said some, 30 mainly ex-fast jet but also some helicopter pilots, are currently in China training pilots for the People's Liberation Army with an annual salary of around £240,000.
Now it has been revealed a small group of these Western pilots were also asked to "wear two hats" by the British government, sources told The Express.
The pilots were not trained intelligence officers and many were been retired from the service for many years, but those who agreed to aid the government and had access to Chinese pilots came back with valuable information.
The operation is now over, but idea was to use the time they had to "take mental stock of any information they collected", the Express reported.
A source said the UK had "played China at its own game” - and won.
Armed Forces Minister James Heappey told Sky News that the recruitment of UK pilots to train Chinese counterparts had been a concern within the Ministry of Defence "for a number of years."
But despite the concern, it appears they capitalised on the risk by gaining the intel.
Britain said it was working with allies to try to stop the practice and that it was determined to tighten the controls on retired service members to guard against training activities that could contravene espionage laws.
“All serving and former personnel are already subject to the Official Secrets Act and we are reviewing the use of confidentiality contracts and nondisclosure agreements across Defense.
"While the new national security bill will create additional tools to tackle contemporary security challenges — including this one", a defence spokesman said.
Professor Alessio Patalano of Kings College London told the Express: "It's important to remember that sharing skills is not necessarily the same as breaking the Official Secrets Act.
"Given they couldn't stop this training, then, I'm not at all surprised that Britain's security services should have found a way to take advantage of it."
China used a third-party head-hunter, including a company based in South Africa, to target personnel, the western official confirmed.
They said the recruitment schemes posed "a threat to UK and western interests" and were viewed with "concern and disapproval" by the government.
