Chinese Companies Have Quietly Acquired Billions In U.S. Farmland: What You Need To Know

Most Americans are familiar with the Department of Defense and the U.S. government’s ongoing concerns regarding the Chinese government’s concerted effort over the last decade to bolster its military capabilities. But did you know that companies from China have been buying up land across America that’s valued in the billions and coincidentally – or strategically – located near military installations and other critical targets?

Recent reports indicate that China has intensified its economic investments allowing for some interesting positioning of assets scattered throughout America’s flyover states. These reports of increased Chinese investments in American land and real estate are raising new concerns over the communist regime’s goals. 

Related: Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld Says China Isn’t America’s Biggest Threat – America Is!

A purchase of what at first glance appears to be a boring swathe of land in the middle of nowhere North Dakota is what’s caught the eye of lawmakers and the intelligence community.

Why, you might ask?

The land is a mere 20 minutes from Grand Forks Air Force Base.

Keeping a Close Watch?

While not on most airman’s dream list of bases to be stationed, Grand Forks Air Force Base is a critical strategic military asset as it houses the RQ-4 Global Hawk Drone. Not only do these bad boys look cool, but they also provide quintessential and game-changing Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) for American troops when deployed to war zones.

The base is also home to the new space networking center, which, as one North Dakota Senator said, is “the backbone of all U.S. military communications across the globe.” So, in a nutshell, the base houses some pretty significant and pretty sensitive military assets.

While it shouldn’t take a rocket scientist to deduce the risk of a Chinese-based company buying up land near a base like this, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission warned back in May that “The location of the land close to the base is particularly convenient for monitoring air traffic flows in and out of the base, among other security-related concerns.”

So who is this company that bought up all this land? The Fufeng Group purchased the 370 acres to build a wet corn mill. 

Fufeng Group’s chairman Li Xuechen is a 12th People’s Congress member. They also unapologetically operate in the Xinjiang province, which has come under consistent scrutiny for its treatment of the Uyghur population. 

Related: Is War With China In Taiwan To Protect Semiconductor Production Really Necessary?

Should we be Worried?

An Air Force Major from the base wrote a memo in April that said, “If proximal access were given to our adversaries, and their collections were directed at us, it would present a costly national security risk causing grave damage to [the] United States strategic advantages.”

It is important to note that the Major was not speaking on behalf of the U.S. military, as clarified by Colonel and Commander Timothy Curry at a local city town hall

“I still do not have any leadership relaying a clear security threat,” said Curry

Given the Department of Defense’s recent track record with assessing anything, I’m not so sure that should settle any discomfort locals feel over the land purchase. However, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum said back in January that by having “Fufeng in Grand Forks, it will be North Dakota – not China – that reaps the benefits of the jobs, facilities, economic activity, and the revenue.”

Interestingly, Governor Burgum’s stance is different from those in D.C. Besides Senator Marco Rubio, who has spoken out against this particular purchase.

“We should be seriously concerned about Chinese investment in locations close to sensitive sites, such as military bases around the U.S.” said Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Mark Warner (D-Va.).

What might not be common knowledge is that China has been buying up land and perching close to military bases for a while now.

At Least Somebody is Interested in Middle America

While it often feels as though politicians and the elite like to ignore and ridicule middle America, China looks pretty interested in what Wanda Sykes called “the red stuff in the middle.”

Last year China bought up 130,000 acres near Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio, Texas. Not only is that interesting given its proximity to the base, but it’s also eyebrow-raising given the land’s closeness to the border and the amount of Fentanyl coming through at that location.

This tactic of buying agricultural land has been going on for a few years. In 2019 the U.S. Department of Agriculture spotlighted that Chinese-linked organizations owned about 192,000 acres of farmland worth more than $1.9 billion. 

Perhaps most chilling is what the FBI uncovered regarding the Chinese company Huawei. Huawei had installed equipment on top of cell towers all along the mid-west, all near military installations. 

This equipment, it was discovered, is capable of not just collecting information but also disrupting defense communications. So why should we care about these locations in the midwest? 

Many of our nuclear capabilities are positioned throughout these mid-west military facilities. Therefore, you would think that this discovery would prompt the removal of this equipment. However, due to federal funding issues, the equipment remains. 

Should we Start Learning Mandarin?

China’s efforts to infiltrate our country have been steadily increasing and multifaceted. For example, in 2017, China offered to spend $100 million to build a Chinese garden at the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. 

While initially celebrated by some, the FBI was able to head this project off because the garden was set to break ground on the highest point in our capitol, a mere two miles from the Capitol building setting it up for ideal intelligence gathering.

Additionally, the deal hinged on China being allowed to ship its supplies in diplomatic containers, making them exempt from customs examinations. Yeah, that seems wise. 

Then there are China’s continued efforts to influence American higher education through what was known as Confucius Institutes. After discovering these ‘institutes’ were being used as a foreign mission to elevate the CCP vision, many were closed down.

However, of the 104 closed, 28 have been replaced with the same repackaged program. 

FBI Director Christopher Wray told CNN that they open a counterintelligence investigation against China every 12 hours. I imagine part of China’s strategy is to flood our intelligence community with these investigations. 

The scary thing about all of this is that it’s nothing new, the Chinese have been doing this for a while now. Even MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, far before his public political associations with Republicans such as former President Donald Trump, had been warning about the Chinese’ intentions regarding the purchase of farmland going back to 2012.

Perhaps the bright side is that China’s land grabs have created bipartisanship in D.C. Let’s hope it leads to action, before something terrible occurs.