Sen. Tom Cotton (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images/File)
"At best, this submits American land and resources to China’s best interests, not America’s—at worst, these purchases serve as outposts for Chinese espionage campaigns against American businesses and military bases. We can’t allow Chinese citizens, or anyone affiliated with the CCP, to own one more inch of American soil. And any American land exploited by current Chinese ownership should be sold."
Some states have already barred foreign nationals from purchasing land.
Smithfield Foods, which has a Chinese parent company, makes up the largest share of Chinese-owned land with 110,000 acres.
A 2022 Chinese land purchase brought concerns to a fever pitch when food producer Fufeng Group bought 370 acres for corn milling near a North Dakota Air Force base.
(Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images/File)
"One acre of American farmland owned by the Chinese Communist Party is one acre too many," said Britt. "The CCP's strategic acquisition of farmland, particularly near our military installations, isn't just a national security risk, it is a threat to our economic and food security."
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That prompted the Biden administration to propose a rule requiring any foreign company or individual looking to buy land within 100 miles of certain U.S. military bases to get government approval.
Last month, a Chinese national was arrested at San Francisco International Airport before he could board a flight to China on accusations that he tried to fly a drone over Vandenberg Air Force base in California.
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Efforts to thwart China from purchasing U.S. farmland near U.S. military installations have gained steam among Republicans in both chambers.
"It's a major concern for me that countries like China have increased purchases of American farmland tenfold over the last decade to control our land and threaten our food, energy and national security," Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, who led efforts in the House to ban China from buying farmland suitable for energy production, told Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/bill-exclusive-banning-chinese-citizens-from-buying-u-s-land