A former US Marine Corps pilot is facing extradition back to the US after being arrested in Australia on charges of training Chinese military pilots in carrier landing skills. His lawyer claims he unknowingly collaborated with a Chinese hacker.
55-year-old Daniel Duggan, an Australian citizen and retired US Marine Corps pilot, was arrested by Australian Federal Police in Orange, New South Wales on October 21, 2022, following a US request for enforcement action.
Duggan denies the US allegations of violating arms control laws. He has been held in Australia’s highest security prison since his arrest.
According to a Reuters report on May 12, Duggan’s lawyer Bernard Collaery stated in a submission to Australian Attorney General Mark Dreyfus in March that communications between Duggan and the Chinese hacker Su Bin were discovered on electronic devices seized from Su Bin.
The case is scheduled to be heard in a Sydney court later this month. After the extradition hearing before a local judge, Dreyfus will decide whether to hand Duggan over to US authorities.
In a legal document seen by Reuters, Duggan’s lawyer expressed concerns that requests for sensitive information from Western intelligence agencies could endanger his family.
The lawyer’s document supports reports linking Duggan to convicted Chinese defense hacker Su Bin, who was arrested in Canada in 2014 and later admitted to stealing US military aircraft designs.
Collaery wrote in the submitted document that Duggan knew Su Bin, who was an employment broker for China’s state-owned aviation company, AVIC, but that the hacking case was not related to their client.
AVIC was blacklisted by the US last year for its ties to the Chinese military.
Based on extradition documents submitted by the US to the Australian court, information retrieved from Su Bin’s electronic devices indicated he paid for Duggan’s trip from Australia to Beijing in May 2012.
The lawyer stated that Duggan asked Su Bin to help his aviation tourism business “Soar High” in Australia procure Chinese aircraft components.
Duggan’s lawyer also mentioned that the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and US Naval Criminal Investigative Service were aware that Duggan was training pilots for AVIC and had met him in Tasmania in December 2012 and February 2013.
Australian intelligence agencies and the US Navy Criminal Investigative Service did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment on the meetings. ASIO had stated earlier that they would not comment due to the matter being before the court.
An Australian intelligence official expressed concerns that Mr. Duggan might gather sensitive information while conducting legitimate business in China.
The lawyer claimed that Duggan moved to China in 2013 and was banned from leaving in 2014. His LinkedIn profile and acquaintances in the aviation industry confirmed his role as an aviation consultant in China during 2013 and 2014.
After the release of US open-source intelligence, Duggan renounced his US citizenship at the US Embassy in Beijing in 2016, with the certificate dated back to 2012.
His lawyer opposes the extradition, stating there is no evidence that the Chinese pilots he trained were military personnel, and he became an Australian citizen in January 2012, before the alleged crimes.
However, US authorities claim Duggan relinquished his US citizenship in 2016.
Su Bin, the former Chinese aerospace entrepreneur, was arrested in Canada in 2014 and later admitted to engaging in cyber espionage activities, including collecting intelligence on US aircraft, leading to a 46-month prison sentence in 2016.
The case, which involves the theft of US military aircraft designs by Chinese military hackers, has garnered international attention. Su Bin confessed to collaborating with two Chinese military officers to infiltrate computers of Boeing and other companies, violating arms export control laws, ultimately stealing 630,000 C-17 related documents and around 65GB of data.
In a November 4, 2022 Reuters report, a former military pilot claimed Duggan became an aviation consultant after retiring from the US military and moved from Australia to Beijing in 2013 and 2014, working with a Chinese businessman named Su Bin.
Duggan confirmed that Su Bin was the businessman he collaborated with but did not provide details on their business dealings.
Duggan’s LinkedIn profile indicates his activities in China during that time, which was supported by another aviation industry source confirming his partnership with Su Bin in Beijing.
US authorities allege that while working at a flight school in South Africa in 2012, Duggan taught secret operational techniques to Chinese military pilots, including carrier landing operations.
Australian national security expert Dr. Charles Edel stated in a 60 Minutes report on 9Now on May 12 that the accusations against Daniel Duggan are very serious.
Dr. Edel remarked, “The military holds secrets; they cannot exchange these secrets with foreign, foreign competitors, or foreign adversaries.”
He expressed concerns about enhancing the military capabilities of the Chinese military and the implications of sharing sensitive information.
Duggan joined the Marine Corps in 1990 and piloted Harrier jets. After retiring in 2002, he moved to Australia and became a citizen 10 years later, relinquishing his US citizenship instead of pursuing dual citizenship.
The US authorities’ scrutiny focuses on the events between 2009 and 2012.
Duggan claims he only taught civilian pilots in China, while the US asserts that these individuals were, in fact, Chinese military pilots.
Dr. Edel emphasized the challenges in differentiating between civilian and military knowledge with China’s concept of civil-military fusion, blurring the lines between civilian and military applications.
If extradited to the US, Duggan faces four charges, including conspiracy and money laundering. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in a US prison.