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Gen. Charles Brown Jr., who leads the Air Force and who could be the next leader of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, put out a warning Friday that China is targeting US troops. The letter sent to all Air Force personnel and warns that China is looking to recruit people with knowledge of US operations.
It marks the Pentagon’s most direct attempt yet to call out and counter what U.S. officials characterized as an aggressive ploy by Beijing to leverage international firms that hire Americans to teach advanced military skills and tactics…
“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, appealing to the recipients’ sense of responsibility, even after leaving the armed forces, to protect “our national defense information.”
China has really been working on this particular form of spying for years. What is being described here is not so different from the approach China takes with US academics who have been offered positions at Chinese universities which pay extremely well (the Thousand Talents program). In exchange the professors agree to teach in China on some area of expertise that China can’t reach on its own. Instead of stealing the information, China has simply decided to pay for it.
A special agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigation, who like some others interviewed for this report spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive national security matter, said that attempts by China’s military to exploit Americans have included marketing job openings to them that initially appear innocuous and approaching them directly at defense industry events…
The offers come from a mix of privately owned companies and those backed by the Chinese government, and are contracted by the Chinese government, officials said.
