Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the answer of 19 October to Question 66920 on China: Armed Forces, what steps his Department is taking to deter UK pilots from providing training for the Chinese Air Force.

We are taking a range of measures to dissuade current and former UK pilots from being recruited. We also want to ensure that China understands that our previous silence on this matter should not be interpreted as acceptance or approval of this activity.

We are issuing threat guidance to personnel at risk of being approached. We are reminding personnel of their obligations to protect sensitive information acquired during their tenure as crown or civil servants; we will be looking at options to tighten the contractual obligations of Service leavers. We are also encouraging the reporting of any recruitment activity targeting pilots or any other specialist area of Defence. The alert has been issued to relevant personnel across Defence, including to partners in Defence industry. We are also actively sharing information with key allies.