Along Montana’s Musselshell River, rancher Michael Miller spotted a large, white orb over the town of Harloton last week, a day before US officials revealed they were tracking a suspected Chinese spy balloon over the state. The balloon soared over a town of 900 people surrounded by cattle farms, wind farms and nuclear missile silos scattered behind chain link fences.
Miller is concerned about China as a growing threat to the US, but questions how much intelligence can be gained from a single balloon. He said that China’s biggest threat is to the American economy. Like many people across the country, Miller wonders if what is needed is stricter laws prohibiting the sale of agricultural land to foreign nationals so that power over agriculture and the food supply doesn’t get into the wrong hands.
Miller said, “It’s best not to have a foreign entity buy the land, especially one that isn’t really friendly to us.” “They’re going to take us on economically rather than militarily.”
Miller’s concerns are increasingly being shared by US lawmakers after tensions between Washington and Beijing escalated following the visit of a Chinese balloon over US skies.
In Congress and state houses, the balloon trip added to decades-old concerns about foreign land ownership. US Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, is sponsoring legislation to include agriculture as a factor in national security decisions allowing foreign real estate investment.
“The bottom line is that we do not want people from China to own our farm. It goes against food security and it goes against national security,” the examiner told The Associated Press.
At least 11 state legislatures are also considering measures to address this concern. This includes Montana and North Dakota, where the US Air Force recently warned that a proposed $700 million corn mill near a military base by a US subsidiary of a Chinese company would risk national security.
City council members in Grand Forks, North Dakota, faced criticism from city residents Monday night before voting 5-0 to abandon the plan. The move came a year after a joint press release from local officials and the governor of North Dakota called the project “extraordinary”, saying it would bring jobs and boost the agriculture industry.
Angry residents of the 59,000-person city near the Minnesota border demanded the resignations of council members, claiming they tried to push the plan while sidestepping Chinese threats to national security.
“You decided, for whatever reason, this was such a wonderful thing for our town that you just turned a blind eye,” said Dexter Perkins, a geology professor at the University of North Dakota. “When there were over a billion unanswered questions, then you were all gone.”
Prior to the Air Force’s warning, officials said they were not in a position to discuss national security matters.
According to the US Department of Agriculture, foreign entities and individuals control less than 3% of US agricultural land. Of that, those with ties to China control less than 1%, or about 600 square miles (340 square kilometers).
Yet in recent years, agricultural and non-agricultural land transactions have attracted scrutiny, particularly in states with large US military presences.
Whole U.S. The limits on foreign individuals or entities owning agricultural land in the U.S. vary widely. Most states allow it, while 14 have restrictions. There is no complete prohibition in any state. Of the five states where the federal Department of Agriculture says entities with ties to China own the most agricultural land, four do not limit foreign ownership: North Carolina, Virginia, Texas and Utah.
Fifth, Missouri has a limit on foreign land ownership that state lawmakers want to make more stringent.
Proprietary restriction supporters often speculate about the motives of foreign buyers and whether those with ties to adversaries such as China may be using the land for espionage or to protect the U.S. Intend to control the food supply.
Texas bans infrastructure deals with individuals linked to hostile governments, including China, through 2021. The policy came after a Chinese army veteran and real estate tycoon bought a wind farm in a border town near a US Air Force base. This year, Texas Republicans want to expand it with a ban against land purchases by individuals and entities from hostile countries, including China.
Critics see this as a form of anti-foreigner hysteria, with Texas’s Asian American community particularly concerned about the impact on immigrants who want to buy homes and build businesses.
In Utah, concern has focused on the purchase of a speedway near an army depot in 2015 by a Chinese company and Chinese-owned farms exporting alfalfa and hay from drought-prone parts of the state.
Lawmakers are considering two proposals this year that would, to varying degrees, ban entities with ties to foreign governments from owning the land.
“Do we really want a foreign country to come and buy our agricultural land, our forests or our mineral rights?” asked Republican state Rep. Kay Kristofferson, who is sponsoring one of the bills. “If it would interfere with our sovereignty – especially in a state of emergency or during a threat to national security – I think we would lose our ability as a state to be independent and self-sufficient.”
Caitlin Welsh, director of the Global Food Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the race to limit foreign land ownership tracked rising US-China tensions. Welsh expressed concern about American adversaries buying land near military bases such as Grand Forks, but said concerns were greater about China controlling the food supply.
“China is a small piece of the bigger picture of foreign ownership,” Welsh said. “When it comes to food security, the biggest risk is that foreign owners could potentially pay higher prices for agricultural land, which drives up prices.”
There has been opposition to the restrictions in states with strong property rights. In Wyoming, two proposals to restrict foreign land ownership failed this week, even though Republicans who control the statehouse were sympathetic to concerns about China expanding its reach.
“We have had a lot of problems with China in the air recently. Big balloons are flying above us. We view this as a national and state security bill for Wyoming and the United States of America,” said Rep. Bill Allemand, a Republican from Casper.
Lawmakers on Monday rejected Allemand’s proposal to ban the ownership of more than an acre of land by people from countries considered state sponsors of terrorism, including Russia and China. Skeptics said it would be difficult to police because of the complex web of title companies and corporations in agricultural real estate.
“It’s that simple,” said Republican Rep. Martha Lawley. “We can end the day feeling good about ourselves, but we’ve opened up to a lot of liability.”
Questions about foreign investment are increasingly fueling debates about whether cities and states should roll out welcome mats or close the doors to potential threats. The issue could pit local officials interested in economic development against state and federal agencies concerned with national security.
Such was the case with a corn mill initially proposed in Grand Forks, where officials applauded the plans last year. But a few days later after the US Air Force shot down a Chinese balloon, which China says was only a weather balloon, sentiment was inflamed and the city changed course.
Grand Forks Council Member Ken Wayne said before voting to leave the corn mill, “There’s something I’ve learned through this process, and that’s sometimes slow down and make sure we get to the next level.” First fully understand.”