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South Africa’s flight academy is embroiled in an international saga involving a convicted Chinese hacker, a former US marine and the UK issuing a treason-type warning that ex-military pilots should not train in China.
Australia has also warned that “it is a very serious crime” to leak its state secrets, after an investigation found former Australian defense personnel had legitimate concerns about training in China.
This situation has also resulted in South Africa’s Test Flying Academy (Tfasa), based in Oudtshoorn in the Western Cape and operating worldwide, consulting lawyers in the UK. Chinese government.
The academy also posted a lengthy statement on its website, reiterating that it was not involved in any illegal activity.
DM 168 Understands that some in the domestic aviation industry feel that the academy has been treated unfairly in terms of its dealings with Chinese customers.
No sensitive state information
A part of the academy’s statement says “It has no trainers [is] In possession of legally or operationally sensitive information relating to the national security interests of any country, regardless of where its personnel are drawn from or in which it trains…
“Tfasa would also like to highlight that it is in contact with the UK [Ministry of Defence] for many years and they are fully aware of the nature of the company’s business.”
The reason the academy is embroiled in the saga is that two individuals it previously did business with, who are linked to China, have been arrested.
Chinese pilot Su Bin was detained in Canada in 2014 for stealing sensitive military data. Daniel Edmund Duggan, originally a US military pilot who once lived in China, was arrested last month in Australia, where he is said to have citizenship.
South Africa’s Defense Department said DM 168 1 December Tfasa was a private academy and has nothing to do with it. If malpractice is found, it can be reported to law enforcement.
‘UK’s defense advantage is eroding’
The timing of Duggan’s arrest in Australia appears to be key to the international story.
On 18 October, just three days before his detention, the UK Ministry of Defense press office posted A series of tweets A sign of a crackdown on ex-British military pilots who trained China’s People’s Liberation Army.
Tweets suggest ex-pilots pose UK threat.
The tweets read: “When ex-UK military pilots train China’s People’s Liberation Army, it clearly reduces the UK’s defense advantage. We are taking immediate action to stop and penalize this activity.
“Defence Intelligence has already engaged with the individuals involved to ensure they are fully aware of the risk of prosecution under the Official Secrets Act.
“The Government’s National Security Bill will capture a range of related activities and provide additional potential avenues for action.
“We are reviewing the use of confidentiality agreements across Defense with the aim of providing additional contractual levers to deter individuals from breaching security.”
Australian investigation
The day after those tweets were published, it was reported that Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles had ordered an investigation into Australian personnel working in China.
Two days later, on 21 October, Duggan was arrested in Australia at the request of the US.
This week, it appeared that the charges against Duggan had yet to be unsealed, meaning they were not public.
Duggan’s lawyer, Dennis Miralis, told the media that Duggan was classified as “extremely high risk,” a term typically applied to murderers or convicted terrorists.
The case against Duggan is likely to proceed on December 16. Meanwhile, after his arrest, the Australian government released more information about military training and what it had picked up on China.
Marles held a press conference on 9 November and announced that he was dismayed by the Department of Defense investigation into former Australian defense personnel training in China.
interview of the Daily Maverick Home page for more news, analysis and investigation
Maintaining national secrets
“I have enough concerns in mind that I have asked [the Department of] Defense to engage in a detailed examination of the policies and procedures applicable to our former defense personnel, and particularly those who come into possession of our nation’s secrets,” Marless said.
“Those who hold our nation’s secrets, either through service in the Australian Defense Force or indeed in any other part of the Commonwealth, have an ongoing obligation to preserve those secrets… To breach that obligation is very serious. crime.”
It’s unclear if Duggan’s arrest, via the US, was connected to what Marles said.
An online petition, which his wife Safrin was seen driving, called for his release from custody.
It said in part: “Daniel is estranged from his children, his beloved family, friends and community because of an apparently politically motivated case …
“Daniel has been caught up in a geopolitical storm to work in China, work that has been done there for decades by Western, African and European pilots with the full knowledge of these governments.”
Duggan was associated with an “adventure flight company” called Top Gun Australia.
Weapons and Tactics Instructor
The company’s website describes him as a former major in the US Marine Corps.
“Dan flew the famous AV-8B Harrier ‘jump jet,'” he says.
“As all US Marine pilots, Dan is a ‘Naval Aviator’ and has coordinated several hundred carrier landings on seven different aircraft carriers, a third of which are night.
“As a Senior Tactical Instructor, Dan holds every tactical instructor qualification, including Weapons and Tactics Instructor, Air Combat Tactics Instructor, Low Altitude Tactics Instructor, Night Tactics and Night Vision Goggle Instructor … just to name a few.”
Duggan was also a contractor for Tfasa at one time.
Aresti was working in S.A
This week, in a response DM 168 Asked about the matter, a Tfasa spokesman confirmed that Doogan had “undertaken a test pilot contract” for the academy in South Africa “10 years ago”.
Since then, the spokesperson added, the academy “has had no contact with Mr Duggan. Mr Duggan has never worked for Tfasa in China.
The saga becomes more interesting.
The academy also had previous business ties to Su Bin – who went by other names, including Stephen Su of China and Stephen Subin, who was later arrested due to US legal action.
A Tfasa spokesperson said this week DM 168 That a Chinese client introduced him to Su’s executives in 2009.
“He facilitated some test pilot courses in South Africa,” the spokesperson said.
“However, due to disagreements over work arrangements, Tfasa ended the relationship with Su Bin in late 2013. Tfasa has not had any contact with her since then.”
The following year, 2014, Su was arrested in Canada and extradited to the US.
Sends stolen military data to China
According to a 2016 US Department of Justice statement, that year he “pleaded guilty … to participating in a years-long conspiracy to hack into the computer networks of major US defense contractors, steal and send sensitive military and export-controlled data. The stolen data to China.”
John Carlin, US Assistant Attorney-General for the Department of National Security, said: “Su Bin admitted to playing a key role in a conspiracy originating in China to illegally access sensitive military data, including data related to military aircraft. It is imperative to keep our military personnel safe.”
Su’s plea agreement stated that he “owns and operates a business that deals in aviation and aerospace technology, a field in which the defendant is trained and knowledgeable”.
In July 2016, Su was sentenced to 46 months in prison in the US.
The US A list of government organizations found to be “acting against the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States”. Su and the company he ran had a red flag, Load Technology, whose address was in China.
Incite hostility
China, meanwhile, has previously denied UK allegations that it is using the technology to threaten global security.
In October, the same month that the UK warned against training ex-military personnel in China, the Chinese embassy in the UK issued a statement saying it was promoting world peace.
“Those who … propagate the so-called China threat, and incite hostility and confrontation will only reveal their sinister intentions and ugly faces and ultimately shoot themselves in the foot,” the statement said.
The UK and China are also mentioned in a statement on Tfasa’s website in which it defends itself.
Open work with China
In a statement on its website, the academy says it has been in contact with the UK Ministry of Defense for several years and that the ministry is aware of its work.
“Furthermore, since 2013 Tfasa’s British tutors have been in direct contact with the UK on a personal basis. [Ministry of Defence] and other UK government agencies before undertaking training contracts with the company’s clients, including its Chinese clients.
The website also mentions the Avic International Flight Training Academy, which it describes as a joint venture between itself and the Aviation Industry Corporation of China that was launched in 2010.
“It is one of only 24 schools in the world with the Civil Aviation Authority of China … accredited to train Chinese airline cadets,” the website says.
“Typical Chinese enrollment from various Chinese airlines is 250 cadets per year, which will increase to 400 in the next three to four years (using reliable Covid recovery forecasts and current recovery rates in China).” DM 168
Caryn Dolly has spent years tracing the footprints of drug kingpins from around the world. In her latest book, Clash of the Cartels, Dolly offers unprecedented insight into how certain drug cartels and syndicates run South Africa, are embroiled in deadly violence in the country and fuel local criminal networks. Available at Daily Maverick Shop here.
This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, available nationwide for R25.
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