Chinese Spy Threat Forces Australia Into Review of Former Soldiers

Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles (R) inspects an honor guard ceremony prior to a Japan-Australia bilateral defense meeting at the Japanese Ministry of Defense in Tokyo, Japan on June 15, 2022. Shuji Kajiyama / POOL / AFP via Getty Images

Defence Minister Richard Marles has announced a review into ex-members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) after reports retired personnel may have been approached to provide military-related training in China.

In a statement on Nov. 9, Marles, also the deputy prime minister, said that a preliminary investigation had found enough evidence to warrant a detailed examination of current policies and procedures.

“It’s no secret that Defence activities, people, and assets are targets for Foreign Intelligence Services,” Marles said.

“But let me be clear: Australians who work or have worked for the government in any capacity, particularly our ADF, who come into possession of the nation’s secrets, have an obligation to maintain those secrets beyond their employment with, or their engagement with, the Commonwealth.

“This is an enduring obligation, and to reveal any of those secrets is a crime.”

Marles noted that although the ADF already had a range of policies in place to protect Defence staff, information, and assets, the review would look for any weaknesses in the system.

Taskforce Investigating Potential Espionage Threat

Speaking at a press conference after releasing the statement, Marles announced the government had set up a joint Counter Foreign Interference Taskforce including members of the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.

“The task force that I’ve described is investigating a number of cases,” Marles said. “What we are focused on right now is making sure that we do examine the policies and the procedures that are currently in place in respect of our former Defence personnel to make sure they are adequate.”

The latest move comes after a former U.S. Marine fighter pilot and flight instructor—who had been working in China—was arrested in Australia following a report from the BBC alleging that Beijing had been headhunting military personnel for training.

This photo taken on Jan. 2, 2017, shows Chinese J-15 fighter jets on the deck of the aircraft carrier Liaoning during military drills in the South China Sea. STR/AFP/Getty Images

Australian Federal Police arrested Daniel Edmund Duggan, 54, on Oct. 21 in the rural town of Orange in New South Wales.

Duggan, who is listed by his company, Top Gun Australia, as the chief pilot and managing director, is a former major in the U.S. Marine Corps who served in the Persian Gulf during operations in Kuwait and spent time in the Spanish Navy.

He is also alleged to have had experience flying a range of military aircraft, including the AV-8B Harrier “Jump Jet,” T2C Buckeye, A4J “Skyhawk,” Hawks, and Mig29, and was a senior tactical instructor trained in weapons and tactics, air combat, and low-altitude flying and has been contracted as a military tactical instructor and consultant.

The BBC reported that the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) had issued an intelligence alert after up to 30 former military pilots were believed to have been recruited by the Chinese regime to train members of the People’s Liberation Army.

The BBC alleges that the UK government became aware of the recruitment drive targeting pilots with experience on fast jets—like the Typhoon, Jaguar, Harrier, and Tornado—and helicopters in 2019, and that efforts were ramped up with current personnel being targeted.

The training is alleged to have been completed in South Africa, with the UK MOD noting to the press that other allied nations have also been targeted.