U.S. Sanctions Companies Alleged To Be Involved In Chinese Pilot Training

A Hong Kong-based security company and a South African flight school have been added to an export control list because of their alleged involvement in recruiting Western military pilots to train Chinese military pilots. The Test Flying Academy of South Africa, which is being investigated by British authorities for recruiting ex-RAF pilots, and the Frontier Services Group, which was run by Blackwater founder Erik Prince until 2021, were both added to the U.S. Commerce Department's Entity List according to Reuters. Companies on that list are prevented from receiving U.S. exports that could be used contrary to U.S. interests.

For the past few months, several NATO countries, including the U.S., Germany, U.K. and Canada, have been investigating whether some of their ex-military pilots were training People's Liberation Army pilots in tactics and procedures. Some have allegedly been involved in creating exercises around a potential invasion of Taiwan. A common denominator in those cases appears to be the South African flight school. It's not clear what Frontier did to earn a spot on the list.