2nd Australian-Based Pilot Investigated for Helping Train Chinese Fighter Pilots

A U.S. Air Force pilot walks in front of a T-38 Talon at Columbus Air Force Base, Miss., on Nov. 11, 2020. The T-38 is a two-seat trainer jet used by student pilots selected for the fighter track in pilot training. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Davis Donaldson

A second former Australian-based pilot is being investigated for allegedly training Chinese fighter pilots.

Keith Hartley, living in South Australia, is being investigated by authorities for his role as chief operating officer at the Test Flying Academy of South Africa (TFASA), a flying academy that British authorities have warned is an intermediary for Beijing to recruit retired pilots.

The UK Ministry of Defence issued an intelligence alert in October after up to 30 former UK military pilots were believed to be recruited by the Chinese regime to train members of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAA).

It is believed the Chinese regime’s recruitment drive is to help PLAAA fighter pilots understand how Western forces operate, which could be crucial in any potential conflict.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) raided the 73-year-old’s Adelaide Hills home last month and seized materials at his Woodside home, reported The Australian newspaper.

Having flown some of the fastest military jets in the world for the British Royal Air Force, Harley has worked recently in Australia as a pilot.

Ex-US Marine Pilot Faces Conspiracy Charges

The investigation comes as Hartley’s friend, Australian-based former U.S.-military pilot Daniel Edmund Duggan faces charges of conspiracy to unlawfully export defence services to China, and for violating the U.S. Arms Export Control Act.

Duggan, who holds both American and Australian citizenship, was arrested on Oct. 21 in the regional city of Orange in New South Wales.

U.S. authorities allege that Duggan broke arms control laws by training Chinese military pilots to land on aircraft carriers on three separate occasions in 2010 and 2012.

A Chinese aircraft flies over the 68-nautical-mile scenic spot, one of mainland China's closest points to the island of Taiwan, in Pingtan island, Fujian Province, China, on Aug. 5, 2022. Aly Song/Reuters

Duggan, who operated an adventure flight company in Australia called Top Gun Australia, also faces additional charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States by unlawfully exporting defense services to China, conspiracy to launder money, and two counts of violating the arms export control laws and international arms trafficking regulations.

Harley, however, claimed the incident as “intensely political.”

“Dan’s case is very different from ours,” he told The Australian. “I have to say, it’s a much more complex thing that he’s involved in.”

“It’s stuff that I haven’t been involved in or the company (TFASA) hasn’t been involved in.”

Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles has ordered an investigation of the country’s defence force to ascertain whether former Australian pilots have been involved in training Chinese pilots.

In an email to The Epoch Times, Marles said that he had “asked the [defence] department to investigate these claims and come back to my office with clear advice on this matter.”

“When our ADF personnel sign up to the Defence Force, they do so to serve their country, and we are deeply grateful of that,” he said. “I would be deeply shocked and disturbed to hear that there were personnel who were being lured by a paycheck from a foreign state above serving their own country.”

The growing controversy over Beijing’s recruiting former pilots from Western countries coincides with the impending visit to China by Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and commentary from Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, both seeking to improve bilateral ties after three years of trade bans by the communist regime.

Victoria Kelly-Clark contributed to this article.