Four Chinese citizens were arrested in Greece for taking photos of French-produced Rafale fighter planes and videotaping sensitive zones surrounding the Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI) and the 114th Combat Wing.
They include a woman, two men and a young person, who are all in police detention, India Today reported.
Security officers at the HAI are said to have seen the group snapping pictures within off-limits areas and requested them to depart. Yet, they kept videoing from a bridge not far away, filming more on point the Rafale jets deployed at Tanagra airbase.
The Hellenic Air Force Police promptly reacted and arrested the group after they refused a series of warnings. The perpetrators were turned over to the local authorities in Tanagra, northeast of Athens.
According to preliminary reports, a huge stash of photo material is now under forensic examination. Greek security services are investigating if the episode was a part of a larger espionage operation.
The Rafale jet, already operational with countries such as Egypt, Greece, India, and the United Arab Emirates, has been the target of an international Chinese disinformation campaign during this arrest, according to French military intelligence.
One of the most advanced multirole fighter planes in the world is the Rafale, developed by France's Dassault Aviation. Ever since the Indian Air Force deployed it during Operation Sindoor against Pakistan in the early part of this year, there was a lot of interest in it from across the globe.
Chinese embassies are said to have organized an orchestrated propaganda campaign to defame Rafale fighters, especially after India used them in Operation Sindoor against Pakistan-backed terror that had carried out the Pahalgam terror attack, says an Associated Press report.
The AP story, quoting French military and intelligence sources, alleged that Beijing exploited its diplomatic missions to exert pressure on current and prospective buyers of the Rafale, encouraging them to consider Chinese-produced variants instead.
