A new bill introduced in the house by 38 House Republicans would ban anyone connected with the Chinese Communist Party from buying land near U.S. military bases.
An investigation by NBC News found Chinese buyers bought less than 1,400 acres out of the country’s 1.3 billion acres of farmland between January 2022 and June 2023.
In contrast, Canada owns 12.8 million acres of farmland in the United States, ranking number 1, according to NPR. China ranks 18th. In all, it reports Chinese firms and investors own just over 383,934 acres in the U.S.
The bill’s author, however, says the Chinese Communist Party’s influence in the United States must be watched closely.
“The Chinese Communist Party is at our doorstep, and we best not let them in,” said Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA). “From spying on sensitive national security sites to buying up American farmland, it is clear we are vulnerable to their malicious efforts.”
The purchase of land by Chinese entities has come under increased scrutiny as the relationship between the U.S. and China has worsened.
Smithfield Foods is an American food company.
“There are important issues to be addressed between the U.S. and China,” said Jim Monroe, Smithfield’s vice president of corporate affairs to NBC. “Ownership of U.S. agricultural land is not one of them.”
The Committed of 100 reports that as of April 25 of this year, 115 bills in 32 states and 36 bills in Congress have been introduced restricting property ownership by foreign governments.
78 of those bills were still under consideration.
The group says the bills “would legitimize harmful and xenophobic claims about immigrants that would exacerbate rising anti-Asian violence that has negatively affected U.S. citizens and non-citizens alike.”
A law in Florida banning Chinese citizens from buying homes is currently being challenged in the federal court.
The Asian Real Estate Association of America has joined with other groups in challenging the law in court as discriminatory against the Asian American community.
“Florida legislators and Governor DeSantis have wrongly targeted Chinese, and other select groups of immigrants. They have opened the door for greater discrimination while creating increased barriers of homeownership entry for prospective AANHPI homebuyers and sellers,” the group said to AsAmNews last month.
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