There Is A Report On The Pilots For China, Australia Reviewing Military Obligations To Protect State Secrets

Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles during a press statement with the US Secretary of Defense and Japan's Minister of Defense. (Wikimedia Commons/US Secretary of Defense)

JAKARTA - Australia will launch a review of the obligations of former military personnel to protect state secrets, following reports of Australians including among Western military pilots who have been approached to help train the Chinese military.

Defense Minister Richard Marles said on Wednesday Australia's intelligence agencies and Federal Police were investigating a number of cases in Australia, announcing a review of policies and procedures governing Australian Defense Forces personnel.

"For those who have the secrets of our country, either through service in the Australian Armed Forces or services in other parts of the Commonwealth, there is an eternal obligation to keep that secret," he told a media conference.

"It is important for us to have the most powerful framework available to protect Australian information and protect our secrets."

Britain said it would change its national security law to stop former military pilots recruited by third-party agents from working in China, after reports that up to 30 pilots had trained the Chinese military.

British media reports have focused on the Test Flying Academy of South Africa, which responded in a statement on its website saying it " strongly believes its actions and actions of its employees, are not in conflict with British law".

Meanwhile, New Zealand's Defense Minister has also sought advice on whether New Zealand Armed Forces require the law implemented to stop former military pilots from training foreign military pilots, a spokesman from the prime minister's office said.

It is known that four former New Zealand defense personnel are working for South Africa's flight training school.

Earlier, an Australian citizen, Daniel totaling Duggan, was arrested in the State of New South Wales in the same week when Britain announced a crackdown on a former military pilot.

Duggan, a former US Marines Corp pilot who works in China as a aviation consultant and flight coach, faces a possible extradition to the United States on undisclosed charges.

His lawyer said Duggan denied violating US or Australian law. Details of the US arrest warrant and the charges he faces were sealed.

Reuters reports Duggan has been working in Beijing since 2014, listing the same Beijing address as an imprisoned Chinese businessman in the United States for conspiring to hack the computer of a US defense contractor.

Separately, the Australian Parliamentional hearing was told by defense officials on Wednesday that the cost of more than 15 million Australian dollars (9.75 million US dollars) to train fighter jet pilots, and the disclosure of official information by a pilot to unauthorized people after they left the defense force was a violation.

"Foreign actors will target our people because of their unique skills," said Celia Lecturer, Deputy Minister of Defense for Security.