Australian F-35 parts reportedly rerouted to Hong Kong from South Korea and taken by China

A batch of F-35 fighter jet parts that was due to be shipped from Australia to the United States for repairs was diverted to Hong Kong after stopping in South Korea in late May, and was reportedly subsequently taken into Chinese government custody. The parts have not been returned. As of September 26, the United States, Australia, Hong Kong and Beijing had not publicly explained why the shipment went to Hong Kong or who made the decision.

The report that China took possession of the parts came from a September 23 Bloomberg report based entirely on anonymous sources familiar with the matter. It said the shipment comprised the canopy and weapons-bay doors of an Australian military F-35, both supplied by Lockheed Martin. Two sources said the components were coated with radar-absorbent material designed to enhance the aircraft’s stealth capabilities. Only one source mentioned that the cargo aircraft stopped in South Korea before flying on to Hong Kong. Two sources confirmed that the Chinese government subsequently obtained the parts and had not returned them. Bloomberg said it remained unclear why the aircraft stopped in South Korea and why it was diverted to Hong Kong, or whether the diversion was deliberate or the result of an error.

The US Defence Department’s F-35 Joint Program Office said in a statement that it was aware of a shipping issue involving unusable F-35 components. It was working with US authorities and industry partners to recover the parts and investigate the incident, while putting safeguards in place to prevent a recurrence. Statements quoted by media outlets did not say who currently held the shipment. Two US congressional committees — the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Armed Services Committee — are following up on the case. Politico first disclosed the incident on September 18, reporting that US State Department and Pentagon officials had briefed congressional staff in June.

Accounts also differ over how sensitive the parts were. Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said on September 22 that, to his understanding, the missing cargo did not involve sensitive equipment. Lockheed Martin told CNN that the components were unusable and had been assessed as posing a low risk of exploitation. Bloomberg’s sources, however, said both parts were coated with radar-absorbent material.

There are also conflicting accounts of the carrier. Bloomberg said UPS handled the shipment, while Australian media outlet The Nightly quoted defence industry sources as saying that CEVA Logistics, a French logistics company, was the intermediary transporting the parts on Lockheed Martin’s behalf. It said CEVA had not responded to repeated enquiries. According to ClearanceJobs, citing Australian Defence Magazine, CEVA later said that no customer, regulator or government department had contacted it about the matter and that it was unaware of any facts indicating its involvement. UPS had not publicly explained the diversion by the time of publication.

In response to enquiries, the Hong Kong government said it did not comment on individual cases. Asked about the matter on September 24, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said he was not aware of the situation. China’s Defence Ministry said the same day that it had no information. No US or Australian official has so far said that Beijing deliberately caused the diversion.

A September 25 Bloomberg follow-up offered one possible explanation: UPS’s logistics network routinely routes Asian shipments through China, while US authorities were still trying to determine how the parts travelled from Seoul to Hong Kong. Politico reported that the Pentagon and State Department expected to provide further briefings to staff of the relevant congressional committees in the coming weeks.