(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) Gen. James Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe–Air Forces Africa (USAFE–AFAFRICA), recently revealed that China has targeted NATO countries to recruit their current and former service members.
According to the Epoch Times, Hecker, who is also the commander of NATO Allied Air Command, talked about the CCP’s recruitment efforts on Feb. 12, 2024, during a media roundtable at the Air & Space Forces Association Warfare Symposium in Colorado.
Hecker said that “there have been successful attempts” of the CCP’s recruitment “from multiple [NATO] nations,” adding that the “good news is, we found out about this fairly early on.”
“And we’ve had successes in getting some of the pilots that were involved in that kind of stuff—we’ve been able to bring them back. Mostly willingly, depending on the nation,” he said, noting that, as a result of the findings, some of the countries had to change their law to bring back some of their service members.
Hecker then said that, despite both the United States and NATO starting a public awareness campaign, China still “hasn’t stopped” its recruitment effort.
Last month, a conference called “Securing Our Military Expertise from Adversaries” was held at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, the headquarters of NATO Allied Air Command, to curb the issue of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) recruiting NATO alliance service members.
A Feb. 8, 2024, statement from USAFE–AFAFRICA revealed that the military, intelligence and other stakeholders from the United States and 22 of its NATO allies and Five Eyes partners, as well as representatives from the U.S. National Security Council, attended the conference.
The CCP regime used “overt and covert recruitment” methods to target service members who are “pilots, maintainers, air operations center personnel and a variety of other technical experts from across multiple occupations that could provide insight into U.S. and NATO air tactics, techniques, and procedures,” the statement said.
“[The People’s Republic of China] recruitment of this nature primarily occurs through seemingly typical job listings, using online job sites or through headhunting emails sent straight to targeted individuals. The U.S. also notes that common red flags include jobs located in or around China, contracts that seem ‘too good to be true,’ and vague details on end customers or position duties,” according to the statement.
