It's been claimed that China is "sending thousands of future military pilots posing as civilians to the United States to learn how to fly". It's not quite as simple as that. I'm sure some of the Chinese pilots training in the USA are, indeed, going to fly with the Peoples' Liberation Army Air Force, but not all of them. Many are here for a different reason altogether.
All over the world, nations set their own standards as to what qualifications their civilian pilots should hold. Many of them are so lax in their enforcement of training standards (for example, most African nations) that their pilots aren't allowed to fly in more advanced aviation environments (such as most First World countries). A pilot's certificate from one of the low-standard nations is effectively a local qualification only, and I wouldn't feel safe flying with such a pilot. Indeed, many qualifications are fraudulently obtained: for example, in 2022 Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) found that 457 of its staff had fake degrees or pilot certificates. An earlier investigation revealed that"more than 260 of [Pakistan's] 860 active pilots had either fake licences or had cheated in their exams." (Remind me never, ever to fly PIA!)
There are other nations, usually in the First World, who insist on pilot training and standards similar to, or close to, those in the USA. Pilots with those licenses can usually fly aircraft in, to and from such countries and others their aviation authorities trust. For example, any pilot licensed by the European Union can fly to other EU nations, and also internationally to most other countries. However, the US pilot license and other advanced aviation qualifications are the only ones that are valid worldwide (except for North Korea and Iran, which don't like us at all! AFAIK, they're the only nations on earth that don't recognize our flying qualifications.) Basically, apart from those two countries, if you have a US pilot qualification of appropriate skill and seniority, you can fly in all other nations and get an aviation job there, if you wish.
That means there are a very large number of foreign pilots who come to this country every year, from all over the world, to get a US pilot qualification. They often have to start from the very beginning, despite some of them having thousands of hours in the air on very large airliners, because the Federal Aviation Administration (on the basis of bitter experience) refuses to recognize almost all foreign flying qualifications. I'm sure the students find that demeaning, but it is what it is. They have to go through the whole process: Student Pilot, Private Pilot, Instrument, Commercial, and on through Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) if they want to fly for the airlines. It can take as little as nine months for an experienced student, or a year or three for someone less experienced (or a complete beginner who has to build up enough hours in the air to qualify to take each successive level of licensing). Once they have their US qualifications, even if they can't get a resident visa here, they can still go almost anywhere else in the world and be hired as a pilot, at a salary usually rather more than an entry-level pilot without US certification would earn.
That's where many, perhaps most, of those Chinese pilots come in. They are often pilots already, flying for Chinese or Far Eastern airlines. They save up vacation hours and their dollars, do what studying they can in advance, then come over here to knock out one or two licenses over a month to six weeks. Two or three trips like that and they can qualify as a US ATP. After that, the world is their oyster. They can leave China, go anywhere else they can get a visa, and be reasonably sure of getting an aviation-related job. (I know about this from a source in the pilot training industry, who's spoken highly of their perseverance and determination.)
So, yes, I'm sure some Chinese military pilots are coming over here to get civilian pilot training, because the standards of training here remain the highest and most demanding in the world. However, I'll be surprised if the numbers are as great as claimed; and I don't think the majority of them are, or will become, military pilots.
Peter
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