A South African flight academy is embroiled in an international saga involving a convicted Chinese hacker, a former US marine and the UK issuing a treason-type warning that former military pilots should not provide training to China.

Australia has also warned that “it is a very serious crime” to leak its state secrets, after an investigation found there were legitimate concerns about former Australian defence personnel giving training to China.

The situation has even resulted in the Test Flying Academy of South Africa (Tfasa), which is based in Oudtshoorn in the Western Cape and operational worldwide, consulting lawyers in the UK after reports recently surfaced there that it was in effect a headhunting agency for the Chinese government.

The academy also posted a lengthy statement on its website, reiterating it is not involved in any illegal activity.

DM168 understands that some people in the local aviation industry feel the academy has been singled out unfairly in terms of its dealings with Chinese clients.

No sensitive state information

Part of the academy’s statement says that “none of its trainers [is] in possession of legally or operationally sensitive information relating to the national security interests of any country, whether those from where its employees are drawn or in which it provides training…

“Tfasa also wishes to highlight that it has been in contact with the UK [Ministry of Defence] for many years and they are fully aware of the nature of the company’s business.”

The reason the academy seems to have cropped up in the saga is that two individuals it previously did business with, who are linked to China, have been arrested.

Su Bin, a pilot from China, was detained in Canada in 2014 for stealing sensitive military data. Daniel Edmund Duggan, a military pilot originally from the US and once based China, was arrested last month in Australia, where he reportedly has citizenship.

South Africa’s Department of Defence told DM168 on 1 December that Tfasa was a private academy and it had nothing to do with it. If wrongdoing was detected, it could be reported to law enforcement.

‘Eroding UK’s defence advantage’

The timing of Duggan’s arrest in Australia appears to be key to the international saga.

On 18 October, just three days before he was detained, the UK Ministry of Defence’s press office posted a series of tweets hinting that there would be a crackdown on former British military pilots who provided training to the People’s Liberation Army of China.

The tweets implied the former pilots were putting the UK at risk.

The tweets read: “When former UK military pilots provide training to the People’s Liberation Army of China, it clearly erodes the UK’s defence advantage. We are taking immediate steps to deter and penalise this activity.

“Defence Intelligence is engaging with the individuals already involved to ensure they are fully aware of the risk of prosecution under the Official Secrets Act.

“The Government’s National Security Bill will capture a range of relevant activity and provide additional possible routes to prosecution.

“We are conducting a review of the use of confidentiality agreements across Defence with the aim of providing additional contractual levers to prevent individuals breaching security.”

Australian investigation

The day after those tweets were published, it was reported that Richard Marles, Australia’s deputy prime minister and minister for defence, ordered an investigation into Australian personnel working in China.

Two days later, on 21 October, Duggan was arrested in Australia at the US’s request.

This week, it seemed the charges against Duggan were yet to be unsealed, which means they were not public.

Duggan’s lawyer, Dennis Miralis, told the media that Duggan was classified as an “extreme high risk” detainee, which is usually applied to murderers or convicted terrorists.

The case against Duggan is expected to proceed on 16 December. Meanwhile, after his arrest, the Australian government divulged more about what it had picked up about military training and China.

Marles held a press conference on 9 November and announced that he was unsettled by a Department of Defence investigation into former Australian defence personnel providing training to China.

Visit Daily Maverick’s home page for more news, analysis and investigations

Maintaining national secrets

“There are enough concerns in my mind that I have asked [the Department of] Defence to engage in a detailed examination about the policies and procedures that apply to our former defence personnel, and particularly those who come into possession of our nation’s secrets,” Marles said.

“For those who do come into possession of our nation’s secrets, either through service in the Australian Defence Force or indeed service in any other part of the Commonwealth, there is an enduring obligation to maintain those secrets… To breach that obligation is a very serious crime.”

It was not clear if Duggan’s arrest, by way of the US, was tied to what Marles said.

An online petition, which his wife Saffrine appeared to be driving, called for his release from custody.

Part of it said: “Daniel is away from his children, his beloved family, friends and community because of an obviously politically motivated case…

“Daniel has been caught in a geopolitical storm for working in China, doing work that has been done there for decades by Western, African and European pilots with the full knowledge of these governments.”

Duggan was linked to an “adventure flight company” called Top Gun Australia.

Weapons and tactics instructor

The company’s website describes him as a former major in the US Marine Corps.

“Dan flew the famous AV-8B Harrier ‘Jump Jet’, ” it said.

“As all US Marine pilots, Dan is a ‘Naval Aviator’ and has compiled several hundred carrier landings on seven different aircraft carriers, a third of them being at night.

“As a senior tactical instructor, Dan held every tactical instructor qualification, including Weapons and Tactics Instructor, Air Combat Tactics Instructor, Low Altitude Tactics Instructor, Night Tactics & Night Vision Goggle Instructor … to name just some.”

Duggan was also once a contractor for Tfasa.

Arrestee worked in SA

This week, in a response to DM168 questions about the matter, a Tfasa spokesperson confirmed that Duggan “undertook one test pilot contract” for the academy in South Africa “over 10 years ago”.

Since then, the spokesperson added, the academy “has had no contact with Mr Duggan whatsoever. Mr Duggan never worked for Tfasa in China.”

The saga gets more intriguing.

The academy also had a previous business relationship with Su Bin – who went by other names, including Stephen Su and Stephen Subin – of China, who was later arrested, also because of US legal action.

Tfasa’s spokesperson this week told DM168 that a Chinese client introduced Su to its officials in 2009. (US authorities later flagged some of Su’s emails from that year.)

“He facilitated a few test pilot courses in South Africa,” the spokesperson said.

“However, due to disagreements over working arrangements, Tfasa ended the relationship with Su Bin at the end of 2013. Tfasa has had no contact with him since then.”

The next year, 2014, Su was arrested in Canada and sent to the US.

Sending stolen military data to China

According to a US Department of Justice statement from 2016, in that year he “pleaded guilty … to participating in a years-long conspiracy to hack into the computer networks of major US defence contractors, steal sensitive military and export-controlled data and send the stolen data to China”.

John Carlin, then the US’s assistant Attorney-General for the National Security Division, said: “Su Bin admitted to playing an important role in a conspiracy, originating in China, to illegally access sensitive military data, including data relating to military aircraft that are indispensable in keeping our military personnel safe.”

Su’s plea agreement said he “owns and operates a business that deals in aviation and aerospace technology, a field in which the defendant is trained and knowledgeable”.

In July 2016, Su was sentenced to 46 months in jail in the US.

A US government list of entities found to be “acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States” red-flagged Su and the company he ran, Lode Technology, which had an address in China.

Instigating antagonism

China, meanwhile, has previously brushed off allegations stemming from the UK that it was using technology to threaten global security.

In October, the same month in which the UK warned former military personnel against providing training to China, the Chinese embassy in the UK issued a statement saying it was promoting world peace.

“Those who … propagate the so-called China threat,” the statement said, “and instigate antagonism and confrontation will only expose their sinister intention and ugly face, and ultimately shoot themselves in the foot.”

The UK and China are also referenced in the statement Tfasa’s website in which it defends itself.

Open work with China

In the statement on its website, the academy says it has been in contact with the UK’s Ministry of Defence for several years and the ministry knows about its work.

“Additionally, since 2013 Tfasa’s British tutors have been in direct contact on an individual basis with the UK [Ministry of Defence] and other UK government agencies prior to undertaking training contracts with the company’s clients, including its Chinese clients.”

The website also refers to the Avic International Flight Training Academy, which it describes as a joint venture between itself and the Aviation Industry Corporation of China that was started in 2010.

“It is one of only 24 schools in the world with Civil Aviation Authority of China … accreditation to train Chinese airline cadets,” the website says.

“The typical Chinese enrolment is 250 cadets a year from various Chinese airlines, which will increase to 400 in the next three to four years (using reliable Covid recovery predictions and the current recovery rate in China).” DM168

Caryn Dolley has spent years tracing the footprints of drug kingpins from across the world. In her latest book, Clash of the Cartels, Dolley provides unprecedented insight into how specific drug cartels and syndicates have operated via South Africa, becoming embroiled in deadly violence in the country and bolstering local criminal networks. Available for at the Daily Maverick Shop here.

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R25.