Fallon said.
He added that the U.S. must be vigilant in protecting its critical infrastructure, including land near military facilities, from potential threats posed by Chinese investments.
Experts also emphasize the need for improved coordination among government agencies to identify and address national security risks associated with foreign land purchases.
As tensions between the U.S. and China continue to escalate, it is crucial for the government to take proactive measures to safeguard national security and protect against potential threats posed by foreign entities.
Fanell informed lawmakers.
A global financial expert and former U.S. representative at the World Bank, Erik Bethel, testified about the significance of Chinese land acquisitions for both the United States and the global community. He highlighted China’s purchase of large tracts of land in Latin America, which could potentially be used against the U.S. through military means.
Bethel pointed out that China’s military space station in Argentina has the capability to monitor polar low Earth orbit satellites, giving the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) access to track hypersonic weapons.
Additionally, China’s ownership of container terminals in Panama, crucial for the U.S. supply chain, poses a security concern. Bethel emphasized the need for the U.S. to recognize China’s strategic encirclement and take action.
Land Ownership Overview
According to a USDA report, there are 44 million acres of foreign-owned agricultural land in the U.S. as of Dec. 31, 2022, under the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 (AFIDA).
Canadian investors hold the largest share of foreign-owned agricultural and non-agricultural land, with 32 percent, or 14.2 million acres. In contrast, Chinese entities own less than 1 percent, with approximately 347,000 acres of land.
Notable Chinese landowners include Murphy Brown LLC, a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, and Chinese billionaire Sun Guangxin. Murphy Brown LLC owns 141,000 acres across several states, while Sun Guangxin acquired 132,000 acres near Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas.
Despite concerns about national security implications, the U.S. government has allowed high-profile land sales to Chinese companies. For example, Sun Guangxin, a former Chinese military officer, purchased land near a military base in Texas for a wind farm project.
In response to growing scrutiny, Texas lawmakers prohibited Chinese entities from accessing critical infrastructure like the state’s power grid. This led to Sun Guangxin selling his interest in the wind farm project to a Spanish company.
Another case involved the Fufeng Group, a Chinese company that bought farmland near Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota. While the Committee on Agriculture raised concerns, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to block the investment.
The concerns of the Air Force were expressed regarding the connection of industrial infrastructure to the Fufeng facility and the denial of building permits by the city council in February 2023. During the city video showing the vote, the audience applauded loudly and residents began chanting âUSA.â A Fufeng USA official publicly dismissed the idea that it could conduct surveillance on the nearby base, according to CNBC.
Subsequently, the Treasury Departmentâs Office of Investment Security expanded CFIUSâs powers in 2023 to include two air bases at the center of past controversiesâLaughlin in Texas and Grand Forks in North Dakotaâalong with six other military installations. The additional bases are: Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California; Luke Air Force Base in Glendale, Arizona; Ellsworth Air Force Base in Box Elder, South Dakota; Iowa National Guard Joint Force Headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa; and Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene and Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.
Fufeng Group USA did not respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times.
States have taken action against land purchases by adversarial foreign nations or their agents when federal lawmakers failed to pass such laws. Almost half of the states have laws restricting ownership or investments in private agricultural land. Indiana and Georgia recently passed laws prohibiting foreign adversariesâ ownership of land near military facilities and banning the acquisition of agricultural land in their states.
South Dakota has banned foreign governments and entities from China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela from owning state agricultural land. Floridaâs law is being challenged in federal court, while a similar bill was blocked in Texas but is expected to be reintroduced in 2025.
In 2023, the CCP engaged in âinformation warfareâ against a Texas bill banning land sales to adversarial nations and their agents. WeChat, a CCP-controlled media platform, was flooded with false information immediately after the session began. Michael Lucci, the founder and CEO of State Armor Action, emphasized the importance of protecting against foreign land ownership near critical infrastructure like power, electrical, and water plants.
The federal government sent a letter to governors detailing cases in which Iran and China attempted to sabotage water infrastructure in states. Mr. DeVore highlighted the CCPâs objective to create a new world order and raised concerns about Chinese ownership of food operations in the U.S. potentially leading to intellectual property theft, espionage, and biological warfare. Chinese ownership of farmland could pose risks to Americaâs food supply, including the introduction of diseases into livestock populations and sabotage of commercial food production systems. Can you rewrite this sentence for me? Please rewrite this sentence.
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