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A large group of over 50 Republican lawmakers wrote a letter to the federal government, raising concerns about national security. According to Just the News, this comes after Chinese Communist Party-linked (CCP) manufacturer, Fufeng Group, purchased land near a U.S. Air Force base in North Dakota.
Rep. Carlos Gimenez, joined by 50 GOP lawmakers, penned a letter Monday to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, warning that “the Grand Forks Air Force Base has exceptional intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities, making the recently purchased land the ideal location to closely monitor and intercept military activity.”
Furthermore, the “presence of a CCP-affiliated corporation near a military installation potentially undermines the integrity of our high-capability military bases, jeopardizing our strategic interests.”
In addition to sounding alarms about potential espionage from the CCP, the GOP lawmakers demanded the government answer questions about the transaction within 60 days of receiving the letter.
Following the Fufeng Group’s acquisition of the land near the base, Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., proposed a bill in August prohibiting China, North Korea, and Iran from investing or purchasing agricultural land in the country, Just the News reported.
“As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I was alarmed when a Chinese company recently purchased farmland near an Air Force base in North Dakota,” Rounds said, according to the outlet. “This acquisition could threaten our national security by allowing the Chinese Communist Party to closely monitor the operations and communications at a very important military facility.”
Similarly, Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., recently announced actions the Sunshine State will take to fend against threats posed by the CCP and other “international foes,” RSBN previously reported.
Under DeSantis’s leadership, Executive Order 22-216 was signed into law, prohibiting state government entities from obtaining technology products or services from companies associated with the CCP or foreign countries, such as Cuba, Russia, Iran, Russia, North Korea, Syria, and Venezuela.
The governor also proposed legislative action to prevent foreign actors from purchasing agricultural land near U.S. military bases. It would also prohibit “government entities from contracting with companies owned by, controlled by, or domiciled in foreign countries of concern if the contract would provide access to Floridians’ personal information.”
“From server farms to farmland, the Communist Party of China has been worming its way into our nation’s data storage systems and buying up tracts of land near sensitive national security sites,” DeSantis said. “By prohibiting the purchase of lands, state contracts with Chinese technology firms, and the infiltration of CCP-affiliated groups such as Confucius Institutes, Florida is leading the way to protect our nation from international foes.”