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Unbeknownst to most Americans,the Chinese Communist Party has been purchasingour farms, land, and even homes for decades. why? They can take our food, technology and other resources.
What's worse, it's perfectly legal. That's why I introduced a bill that would prohibitChinese communists andthose acting on their behalf from purchasing even a handful of American land.
In recent years, China has exponentially increased US land holdings, especially agricultural land holdings. Between 2010 and 2020, China increased its agricultural land holdings by nearly 2,500%, covering more than 350,000 acres of American soil. Communists not only purchased the fields and meadows of rural America, but they also control food processing companies like Virginia-based pork giant Smithfield.
Chinese President Xi Jinping Lecture(AP)
One of the reasons Chinese communists are devouring American agriculture is because China cannot be self-sufficient. Nearly 20% of the world's population lives in China, but less than 10% of the world's arable land is her. As a result, Beijing is forced to go elsewhere for food sources, especially meat and other forms of protein.
TUCKER CARLSON: Food could be in short supply while China buys American farmland
and CCP purchases in the US have largely paid off. At the height of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, Smithfield ensured China got the pork it needed, but American grocery stores were running out. By monopolizing our land and food processing companies, they will benefit their own people and gain a great deal of influence over the United States.
But that is not the only reason China is putting down roots in the United States. In some cases, they use our lands as strategic outposts to steal America'sseeds and agricultural technology. There are also cases where large plots of land were purchased near US military bases.
In North Dakota, a Chinese company purchased 300 acres of land several miles from a US Air Force base. The base is reportedly home to some of the most advanced military drone technology in the United States. The base has also been dubbed the "backbone of all U.S. military communications worldwide." Similarly, in Texas, a former Chinese military official purchased over 130,000 acres of his land on the US-Mexico border, very close to Laughlin Air Force Base.
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Young China could buy even more as Americans leave family farms and their parents increasingly retire from the business as they age. Millions of acres are expected to change ownership over the next decade. We must prevent them from falling into the hands of the CCP.
But the Communists are not just taking America's farmland. It also buys a surprising amount of American real estate. The American Real Estate Association estimates that between 2010 and her 2020, the Chinese bought more than her $200 billion in US real estate. This is more than any other country in the world.
China's purchase of more than 300,000 of her homes in the United States since 2010poses an unknown national security risk. of Chinese buy. For America, allowing China to buy our land is a lose-lose proposition.
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Our country's greatest enemy is not allowed to bribe our motherland and turn it into de facto enemy territory. The last Cold War would never have allowed the Russian communists to take our land, and we should not allow the Chinese communists to do so in this Cold War.
Do not allow new vines of communist influence to take root on American soil. Communist land purchases must be banned now.
Click here to learn more about SEN. Tom Cotton
Republican Tom Cotton represents the state of Arkansas in the US Senate.
