China targets U.S. Military and veterans for exploitation

The Chinese military is trying to get international firms, working in China, to look for and gain recruits with U.S. and NATO experience in specialties that could help the Chinese military. They look for veterans with expertise to provide training, while under employment contract, to individuals these veterans would not realize are related to the Chinese military. The Chinse Communist Party is hoping that they could trick NATO military veterans to provide training to the Chinese military.

From Fox News:

“By essentially training the trainer, many of those who accept contracts with these foreign companies are eroding our national security, putting the very safety of their fellow servicemembers and the country at risk,” Brown wrote in the memo, which was first reported by the Washington Post. He encouraged service members to safeguard “our national defense information” even after they leave the armed forces.

A special agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigation told the Washington Post that China has attempted to exploit Americans through job offers that can appear innocuous. U.S. pilots and other veterans with a wealth of expertise may be approached directly at defense industry events and offered roles where their expertise is needed. The official cited former aerospace ground equipment maintainers and landing-signals officers as examples — jobs which require specialized knowledge to handle equipment and guide pilots and their aircraft to safety, the report said.

But behind these job offers are private companies that are either controlled by the Chinese government or contract with the Chinese Communist Party, according to officials. These entities seek consultants, advisers and trainers who will share their knowledge on the job and unknowingly feed it directly to the Chinese military.

U.S. officials are concerned that service members may be hesitant to leave their jobs even after they discover the connection to China.

“We want to make sure that people understand: If it looks too good to be true, it probably is,” the official told the Washington Post. They called the exploitation campaign “insidious.”

Fox News provides the rest of the story, and the Department of the Air Force memo on this topic, at this link.

Category: China, Military issues, Veterans in the news