Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of RAF personnel who have been involved in training the Chinese Armed Forces without permission in the last ten years.

The Department does not have an estimate of the number of RAF personnel who have been involved in training the Chinese Armed Forces in the last ten years. The issue only came to light in 2019, when the Ministry of Defence (MOD) became aware of an isolated case, when a UK defence industry employee was head-hunted to support the Peoples Republic of China military aviation programmes. Since then, the MOD have investigated other cases, and when practicable taken necessary measures to deter and dissuade such recruitment. Up to 30 UK former serving pilots are believed to be currently providing training to Chinese Armed Forces Personnel.