China’s ties with Britain strained over protest clash and military pilots

Here’s what else you need to know about China today:

Military pilot poaching: Australia has joined the U.K. in investigating Chinese recruitment of its military pilots, after the British defense ministry announced it was taking “decisive steps” to stop its former pilots from training Chinese armed forces.

• Australian defense minister Richard Marles announced a probe into whether Australian pilots had also been recruited: “I would be deeply shocked and disturbed to hear that there were personnel who were being lured by a pay cheque from a foreign state above serving their own country,” he said per Reuters.
• Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wāng Wénbīn 汪文斌 denied any knowledge of British pilots being targeted, saying, “I am not aware of the circumstances you mentioned.”

China has lodged representations with Britain over the violent clash between protesters and a group of unidentified men on the grounds of the Chinese consulate in Manchester, as the two nations continue to diverge on their accounts of what went down that Sunday.

Solar energy billions: This week, companies in the photovoltaic industry announced a series of massive orders: Shangji Automation will supply silicon wafers and products worth nearly 10 billion yuan ($1.38 billion); Daqo New Energy will sell polysilicon worth more than 60 billion yuan ($8.33 billion); and Tongwei Group has signed contracts for monocrystalline materials for more than 100 billion yuan ($13.89 billion). More in today’s Business briefs from the Chinese media:

• Chinese sportswear brands are just doing it.
• In Xi’s China, booze is more valuable than tech.

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