A former U.S. Marine who was arrested in Australia is being accused of breaking U.S. arms control law by training Chinese military pilots.
Australian pilot and former Marine Corps aviator Daniel Duggan has been accused of breaking U.S. arms control law by training Chinese military pilots to land on aircraft carriers, according to an indictment now unsealed by a U.S. court.
The indictment said the naturalized Australian provided military training to China’s pilots through a “test flying academy” in South Africa between 2010 and 2012.
Duggan was arrested by Australian authorities in October at the request of the FBI. A formal extradition request is still pending. The U.S. has until December 20 to make an extradition request. Otherwise, he is available for release.
Duggan’s arrest coincided with warnings from Australian and British authorities over the practice of former military pilots being offered lucrative contracts to train pilots in China.
The 2017 indictment and a warrant for Duggar’s arrest were unsealed on Friday by the District of Columbia court.
The indictment said Duggan was allegedly contracted directly by an unnamed Chinese national co-conspirator to provide services to a Chinese state-owned company, including evaluations of Chinese military pilot trainees, testing of naval aviation-related equipment, and instruction on tactics related to landing aircraft on aircraft carriers.
Duggan did not seek authorization from the U.S. government to provide military training to China, although the State Department had informed him by email in 2008 this was required to train members of a foreign air force, it said.
The indictment alleges he traveled frequently between Australia, the U.S., China, and South Africa between 2009 and 2012 when he held both American and Australian citizenship. Duggan has since renounced his US citizenship.
Duggan faces four charges. 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.
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