A new poll reveals that Americans want to prevent countries like China from purchasing American land and operating critical infrastructure there.
U.S. farmland purchases by people with associations with the Chinese Communist Party have turned into a new concern in Congress, provoking a whirlwind of proposals to combat the growing issue.
40 Million Acres
Estimates, which have projected that foreign entities own over 40 million acres near critical U.S. infrastructure and military installations, have only served to exasperate these concerns.
Both lawmakers and everyday Americans have growing worries over this issue. Almost two in three Americans are fed up with the land grabs and want China and other countries banned from doing so according to a new poll from CRC Research conducted for the 85 Fund.
Chinese Factory in Michigan
Gotion, a Chinese battery-producing organization, bought acres of land in rural Michigan to build a new manufacturing facility near a local National Guard base, provoking worries among local people in 2023.
After being momentarily stopped, the plant’s construction is still active. 66% of respondents to the poll said they believe countries of concern to the U.S. should not have the ability to purchase land in the U.S.
Implementing Legislation
It additionally found that 67% of respondents concur with implementing legislation to stop foreign adversaries from supplying their states with critical infrastructure components.
The 2,800 likely voters of the survey were polled in the crucial battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin ahead of the election.
Voter Intentions
State Armor CEO Michael Lucci told DailyMail.com that the findings clearly show that voters want safeguards at the state level against foreign influence in the purchasing of U.S. land for critical infrastructure.
His group focuses on assisting states with guarding themselves against foreign influence, especially from the Chinese Communist Party.
Restricting the CCP’s Power
Chinese entities own farmland in 29 out of the 50 states, adding up to 347,000 acres of land. Lucci shared a few reasons why voters need regulations tightening the CCP’s power.
He said, “Americans are understanding more and more the danger that foreign adversaries like the Communist China pose to their states.”
“Intractable Adversary”
Lucci went on to state, “China’s Communist Party is an intractable adversary that is willing to do anything it can to undermine American security, especially during our Presidential election.”
“China’s efforts to target our critical infrastructure, to monopolize and control essential technologies like drones, and to use American investment dollars to fuel their expanding and belligerent military are all top of mind for American voters.”
USDA Figures
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released figures regarding foreign entities owning 40 million acres of U.S. farmland and China in particular owning almost 347,000 acres of farmland.
Some Chinese land purchases near significant U.S. military installations have been a specific worry for legislators and government authorities.
Grand Forks
In 2022, for instance, the China-based food manufacturer, Fufeng Group, purchased 300 acres of land in Grand Forks, only 20 minutes away from the Grand Forks Air Force Base, where a portion of the country’s sensitive drone technology is based.
In a memo he wrote that year, Major Jeremy Fox of the Air Force described the move as representative of Chinese efforts to establish themselves close to sensitive U.S. defense installations.
Intercepting Communications
Fox argued that the Fufeng property is precisely where the company should be to intercept Air Force base communications raising concerns about the potential for sensitive information to leak.
Presently legislators are attempting to additionally confine China and different adversaries from grabbing up sought-after land in the fiscal year 2024 ‘Farm Bill.’
Farm Bill
Rep. Ashely Hinson, R-Iowa, was motivated to propose new rules in the upcoming Farm Bill to better follow China’s moves and allay concerns about the CCP’s influence over U.S. infrastructure and land.
Reforms to the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) proposed by Hinson would aid the government in tracking foreign entities’ purchases of U.S. agricultural land more easily.
40 Percent Increase
The bill is supposed to be voted on in the coming weeks once Congress gets back from recess.
Since 2016, foreign ownership of U.S. land including buyers from adversarial nations such as China, Russia, and Iran has increased by 40 percent.
Along with concerns over espionage, the integrity of America’s food supply chain is also being questioned.
