Chinese pilots are seeking out training in the U.S. because China’s flight schools are unable to keep up with the civil and military demand for pilots.
Senator Jim Banks is concerned about Chinese nationals receiving flight training in the U.S. because of the possibility those pilots could become assets for the Chinese Communist Party’s military.
Banks is sending a letter to the Transportation Security Administration alerting the agency to the national security implications of U.S. flight schools training Chinese pilots, National Review has learned. Given the CCP’s military-fusion strategy that blurs the lines between commercial and military endeavors, Banks believes it is a necessity for the U.S. to strengthen its vetting requirements for foreign students at American flight schools.
“Each Chinese citizen trained at an American flight school helps break through China’s pilot bottleneck. While many of these students will go on to civilian and not military careers, the Chinese Communist Party, through its Military-Civil Fusion strategy, has foreclosed our ability to view this training with the benefit of a doubt. The more Chinese citizens there are with aviation training, the more options the Chinese military has to recruit pilots and instructors for its malign purposes,” Banks’s letter reads.
An outspoken China hawk, Banks cites investigative reporting, government research, and academic scholarship detailing China’s pilot shortage in commercial and military capacities. Chinese pilots are seeking out training in the U.S. because China’s flight schools are unable to keep up with the civil and military demand for pilots. The Chinese government permits prospective pilots to train at approved U.S. flight schools, including two Banks highlights in the letter as causes for concern.
China’s military has taken action to mitigate the shortage and accelerate its ambitions to become an aviation power. The People’s Liberation Army has loosened its standards and shortened the training cycle at the Shijiazhuang Flight Academy from four years to three, Banks’s letter explains. Chinese state media has brought attention to non-traditional pilot recruitment and noted its importance in meeting China’s demand for pilots to helm its growing fleet of aircraft carriers.
Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Congress empowered the Department of Homeland Security to vet foreign nationals seeking to train at U.S. flight schools because of potential threats to national security. Banks is urging the TSA to update its vetting standards to encompass all individuals from foreign adversarial nations to ensure CCP agents do not fall through the cracks.
“Therefore, I respectfully request that TSA update the Flight Training Security Program to preclude individuals from foreign adversary nations, such as China, from attending flight training schools in the United States. We must ensure that American flight training programs serve American interests—not Xi Jinping’s dreams.,” Banks concludes.
In recent days, the Chinese military has unexpectedly stopped its flights around Taiwan, despite the flights serving as a routine part of China’s harassment against the island it views as a rogue territory. China could be attempting to preserve fuel because of the rapid increase in global energy prices due to the Strait of Hormuz closing amid the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. Or it could be a way to prepare for President Trump’s upcoming summit with Chinese ruler Xi Jinping, as China attempts to convince the world that it would not be the aggressor in a potential military conflict with Taiwan.