And the Florida governor’s recent signing of a bill that would restrict Chinese purchases of farmland in the state has brought this controversy back to the forefront, renewing the debate about the extent of the dangers Chinese ownership of these lands poses to Americans. security, especially in light of the growing conflict between the two countries, and with Washington’s consideration, Beijing is “the most significant challenge” according to the US national security document.
Despite the low percentage of Chinese ownership of total foreign-owned land in the United States, a number of states and lawmakers are rushing to impose new restrictions on their ownership, in addition to other nationalities of countries that are not friends of the United States. .
Writer Patty Waldemir, in an article for Britain’s Financial Times newspaper, sums up the details of the crisis (old and new) called for by a number of US state legislators and governors, and says:
Dozens of state as well as federal lawmakers are trying to stop the Chinese from buying land in America. Chinese ownership of less than 1% of U.S. land held by foreigners, according to USDA reports in 2021. The number has increased significantly in recent years. Chinese agricultural investment abroad increased more than tenfold between 2009 and 2016, causing tensions in Washington.
Legally, the author points out that “there is currently no federal law preventing foreigners from purchasing land in the United States, and the bill now being proposed in this context to prohibit the purchase of U.S. farmland by China, Russia, Iran and North Korea has not been discussed anywhere in Congress so far.”
At the same time, he also notes “this month’s proposals calling for preventing foreigners from buying land near eight military bases”, recalling the question raised by the proposal by Fufeng (a Chinese company manufacturing food products) to pump a large investment near a military base. in North Dakota (a state located in the Midwestern States).
Last week, Florida’s governor signed a law banning most Chinese people from buying farmland (using it to promote his stance on ending the Chinese Communist Party’s influence and as a potential candidate presidential). While an American pressure group (United Chinese Americans) warned that this law “legitimizes discrimination and racism against Americans of Asian origin”. A few days ago, the governor of Montana also signed a law prohibiting governments, companies and individuals (from China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea as well as Russia and Venezuela) from buying or lease agricultural land. Texas lawmakers are also discussing a law to prevent certain foreigners from buying such assets as well.
exaggerated fears
Commenting on this, the American academic and professor of international relations at Hamilton College in New York, Alain Kafroni, believes that “while Chinese companies are certainly working to increase their global investment in agriculture, the implications of this general trend for States United States of America are greatly exaggerated.” .
And he points out, in statements exclusive to the “Sky News Arabia Economy” website, that “in recent hearings of a newly formed and highly hawkish House Committee on China, politicians from both parties issued xenophobic warnings on China’s ownership of US farmland, including accusations that farms are being bought up near military bases for surveillance purposes, but he mitigates those concerns.
The American academic, professor of international relations at Hamilton College in New York, justifies this by saying, “In fact, less than 1% of all foreign-owned US farmland is owned by Chinese citizens.
Going back to Bati Waldemir’s article, I quoted an official from the National Center for Agrarian Law, saying that the current battles over foreign ownership date back to colonial times and at the beginning of the last century most Asians were barred from owning land in many states. Now the debate is raging again with 34 US states wanting to restrict foreign investment in land.
Political hysteria about China!
In exclusive statements to “Sky News Arabia Economy”, Associate Professor at Cornell University, Allen Carlson, whose work focuses on issues related to Chinese politics, foreign policy and Asian security, says:
American politics is deeply divided these days. Within this divide, a single issue unites them: concern about the rise of China and its potential effects on the United States. Some of this worry is justified, but much of it seems to be driven by something akin to “paranoia” about China.
And he continues: “It seems to me that Chinese ownership of American property (including land) falls into this context”, stressing that “it is difficult to see the threat that this ownership poses to Americans”.
“It’s also easy to see how some American politicians have recently focused on these Chinese possessions as a way to show their power to China,” adds the associate professor at Cornell University.
Perhaps the best example of such “political greatness” occurred in Florida, where Governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis signed a bill that would ban Chinese citizens from buying land in Florida. It is unclear whether this law is constitutional. While it is quite clear that this is “more the product of political hysteria over China than a well-thought-out policy move.”
The danger lies
The Republican Representative, a member of the Sino-American Relations Committee, warned at the committee’s first meeting last March that China is not a major player in the agricultural sector in his country, but “its growing acquisition of foreign land is a matter of concern for Washington.”
He also revealed that Beijing has in recent years increased its foreign farmland by 1,000% and has about 1,300 agricultural processing facilities outside China, a number that is growing rapidly, according to NPR.
In late March, a bipartisan majority in the House of Representatives approved a measure to protect vital farmland for renewable energy production from Chinese investors. The law prohibits foreign adversaries from purchasing real estate suitable for the production of renewable energy or renewable fuels. In recent months, Republican lawmakers and officials across the country have stepped up scrutiny of land purchases by foreign investors. The growing number of lands being sold has raised fears that foreign companies and investors, particularly Chinese, will control key US food and energy supplies.
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