Three years ago, the Chinese took advantage of a defect in US protocols to block land purchases near American military bases and almost acquired terrain near Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota.
Now, Senate Banking Committee Republicans are championing a new bill titled the “Protect Our Bases Act,” which is intended to patch up that protocol glitch to ensure the Chinese can’t acquire land near sensitive US installations.
“The Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to infiltrate and surveil all parts of the US national security apparatus requires vigilance from our national security agencies,” Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC), who is introducing the bill, told The Post.
“This legislation will enhance the review of foreign real estate transactions near critical national security installations, helping ensure CFIUS [the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States] has the information it needs to protect our homeland and keep our nation safe.”
It’s being co-sponsored by Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Thom Tillis (R-NC), John Kennedy (R-La.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) and Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio).
The bill comes weeks after Ukraine’s Operation Spider’s Web, in which Kyiv is said to have deployed some 117 drones in bases deep within Russian territory and detonated on dozens of aircraft, destroying at least 20 of them.
That breakthrough military operation set off alarm bells for militaries around the world over the potential vulnerabilities of bases to drone strikes. China is widely seen as the global leader in drone production. --->READ MORE HERE
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| FOX NEWS |
Chinese investors own more than 277,000 acres of US agricultural land as lawmakers move to tighten foreign investment rules
Lawmakers are taking aim at China with recently introduced legislation that would bring more oversight on foreign ownership of U.S. farmland.
A group of bipartisan lawmakers introduced the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Improvements Act (AFIDA) this month. The move was first reported by Fox News Digital.
The legislation seeks to implement recommendations published by the Government Accountability Office in January 2024, which found the AFIDA was ill-equipped to combat foreign ownership of American agricultural land.
Some of its other measures propose requiring AFIDA reporting for foreign persons holding more than 1% interest in U.S. farmland, boosting the sharing of information between the Committee of Foreign Investment in the United States and the Department of Agriculture and updating the AFIDA handbook, according to Fox News Digital.
It would "tell China ‘no,’ basically," FOX Business’ Ashley Webster said Monday on "Varney & Co."
More than 277,000 acres of agricultural land was owned by Chinese investors as of the end of 2023, with that land located in states "across the country," according to a USDA report. --->READ MORE HEREFollow link below to a relevant story:
+++++Senators Ricketts, Fetterman unite against China's quiet invasion of US farmland+++++
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