China has made a significant purchase of US agricultural land in North Forks North Dakota through a front company called the Fufeng Group . This parcel of 300 acres is located a hop skip from Grand Forks Air Force Base .

A North Dakota City Attracted a Corn Mill. Then Came Questions About Its Chinese Owners. - The New York Times (nytimes.com) (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/17/us/grand-forks-north-dakota-fufeng-china.html)

The company's ties to the CCP are well established by an investigation by the EU in a product dumping case. They found local governments in China were coordinating company business.

The Chairman of the Board at Fufeng Group, Li Xuechun, was appointed in 2013 as a member of the Linyi City People’s Congress, an arm of the CCP .Li graduated from the CPC Central Party School with a degree in Economic Management in June 1988 .He is a member of the National Committee of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and serves as a representative on its Science Education Culture Health and Sport Commission.

The Grand Forks Air Base is home for some of the US most advanced drone technology The base is also the home of a new space networking center, which North Dakota senator John Hoven said handles “the backbone of all U.S. military communications across the globe.”

News Release | News Releases | News | U.S. Senator John Hoeven of North Dakota (senate.gov) (https://www.hoeven.senate.gov/news/news-releases/hoeven-sda-awards-funding-to-establish-space-networking-center-at-grand-forks-air-force-base)

Grand Forks Air Force Base set to host nation's first space networking center - Grand Forks Herald | Grand Forks, East Grand Forks news, weather & sports (https://www.grandforksherald.com/news/north-dakota/grand-forks-air-force-base-set-to-host-nations-first-space-networking-center)

Call me cynical .I find it hard to believe that the Chinese were interested in this parcel of land to do corn milling ;especially since it is about 150 miles away from corn fields according to North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer

U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said the project raises many red flags in terms of national security.
Cramer specifically wants to know why the group selected to build close to a strategic military base in a remote northeast corner of North Dakota that houses sensitive drone, satellite, and surveillance technology.
Located 75 miles south of Canada, Grand Forks is “a wonderful spot in the Red River Valley,” Cramer told The Epoch Times.
“But it’s in the northern reaches of corn country. That in and of itself is a peculiarity. It doesn’t seem like a rational investment for this type of facility.”
“In other words, [logistically] you would have a corn milling plant in the middle of the corn belt. If this project were 150 miles south of Grand Forks, it would be surrounded by corn fields.”

[The Epoch Times] Company With Ties to China Continuing With Corn Mill Project Near Airbase in North Dakota - America News (https://americanews.news/company-with-ties-to-china-continuing-with-corn-mill-project-near-airbase-in-north-dakota-19657.html)

Between 2010 and 2020, China increased its agricultural land holding by nearly 2,500%, to encompass over 350,000 acres of American soil.

Between 2010 and 2020, the American Realtors Association estimates that Chinese nationals bought over $200 billion worth of American real-estate, more than any other country in the world

This was completely legal




Sen Tom Cotton wants it stopped.

ROS22A43 (senate.gov) (https://www.cotton.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/securing_american_farmland.pdf)

“Chinese investments in American farmland put our food security at risk and provide opportunities for Chinese espionage against our military bases and critical infrastructure. Instead of allowing these purchases, the U.S. government must bar the Communist Party from purchasing our land,”

Republicans want to prevent CCP members from buying US land | Sens. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and Tom Cotton (R-AR) are concerned about members of the Chinese Communist Party owning land in America, and they have introduced a bill to do something about it. Securing America’s Land from Foreign Interference Act came as a response to a 2020 report in which the U.S. Department of Agriculture said | The Tea Party's Front Page. | Slowly, our freedoms are being chipped away with, "We know better..." justification as its hammer and chisel. (ussanews.com) (https://ussanews.com/2022/08/09/republicans-want-to-prevent-ccp-members-from-buying-us-land/)

Another land purchase near a US Air Force base.

This time in California . Flannery Associates made the purchase. The problem is that no one is really sure who or what Flannery Associates is and who they are representing .

They purchased nearly 52,000 acres of 'agricultural property' in California close to Travis Air Force Base in the last 5 years . Travis is called
“Gateway to the Pacific” and is home to the largest wing of the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command, which provides planes to refuel other aircraft and those to transport military personnel and supplies, including munitions used in Ukraine.

Flannery is a wholly owned subsidiary of Flannery Holdings, a limited liability company(LLC) registered in Delaware (home of Quid Pro Joe)
Flannery claims it is mostly American owned even though most of the money is purportedly coming from Brit and Irish investors .LLCs registered in Delaware don’t have to publicly disclose the identity of their owners. But national security is potentially involved .

The Air force is investigating the purchases but has yet to determine the group's backers .

Dem Reps from California Garamendi and Mike Thompson have asked for an investigation by the Committee on Foreign Investment because Flannery has been less than forthcoming on information about the purchases . They have not proven their contention that it is mostly American owned. They have not given local officials any indication of what they plan to do with the parcels .

County supervisor Mitch Mashburn said if Flannery intends to develop the land, it would make sense for the group to engage with local officials—but it hasn’t.
“The majority of the land they’re purchasing is dry farmland,” he said. “I don’t see where that land can turn a profit to make it worth almost a billion dollars in investment.”

There may be nothing to see here . Or it could be something nefarious. It needs full investigation .