Ex-Marine Charged With Training Chinese Pilots

A Washington court has unsealed charges against an ex-Marine pilot for his alleged activities with Peoples Liberation Army in China. According to CNN, the charges against Daniel Duggan date back to 2010 and include conspiracy to defraud the United States by conspiracy to unlawfully export defense services to China, conspiracy to launder money, and two counts of violating the arms export control act and international traffic in arms regulations. The government alleges "Duggan provided military training to (Chinese) pilots" through the Test Flying Academy of South Africa in 2010 and 2012. That same organization is at the center of investigations in the U.K., France, Canada and Australia over allegations that former military pilots are working under lucrative contracts in China, but it appears Duggan is the first to face charges.

Duggan is now an Australian citizen and was arrested there in October at the request of U.S. authorities under an extradition treaty between the two countries. The U.S. has until Dec. 20 to formally request Duggan's extradition. He remains in jail in Sydney. The indictment says an ex-Navy T-2 Buckeye was purchased from a U.S. aircraft dealer to train Chinese pilots how to land on aircraft carriers. T-2s were used by the Navy for training until 2008. Duggan had been living in Beijing since 2014 and moved back to Australia shortly before his arrest.