Former military pilots from the West are being lured to China

IN APRIL A Chinese fighter jet crashed in a rural part of eastern China. The two pilots safely ejected and were quickly surrounded by locals, who recorded the encounter. "Who is that?" asked a villager, pointing to one of the pilots, a white man with red hair who spoke in English. "This is our instructor," said the other pilot in Chinese. In recent weeks it has become clearer why foreign pilots might be found in a Chinese jet. On October 18th Britain's defence ministry announced that it was trying to stop China from luring ex-military pilots to train its air force. An official said that a private firm called the Test Flying Academy of South Africa had hired up to 30 former Royal Air Force pilots to work in China on salaries of around $270,000 a year.