Rep. Chip Roy has introduced legislation that would ban the sale of U.S. land to members of the Chinese Communist Party. Citing the “security threat,” Roy wants Biden to take steps to “prohibit the purchase of public or private real estate located in the U.S. by members of the CCP.”
“All across the globe, China is buying up land and infrastructure to strengthen their quest for global power and dominance,” Roy said in a press release. “The [U.S.] needs to recognize the threat of direct Chinese investment in the U.S. economy and take serious action to prohibit the [CCP] from ever gaining this type of domestic control over us.”
Roy cited a recent Chinese land purchase in Texas as an example of a security threat.
A China-based energy corporation bought over 130,000 acres, for building a wind farm in Texas near Laughlin Air Force Base in Del Rio, according to information from WTXF-TV. The fact that such an amount of land was bought near a defense facility raised eyebrows.
“The Securing America’s Land from Foreign Interference Act will ensure that U.S. land never comes under control of the CCP by prohibiting the purchase of U.S. public or private real estate to any members of the CCP.”
“If U.S. citizens cannot buy land aircrafts in China, then CCP members should not be able to buy land in the U.S.,” Roy said in the press release.
If the old Soviet Union had purchased land for any reason close to a U.S. military facility, you can bet that the uproar would have scotched the deal quickly. China must be recognized as an enemy of the United States and prevented from using its vast wealth and government control of private industry to gain any advantage at all.
The bill does not specify, however, what is meant by “member” of the CCP.
At least one in every 15 individuals in China is a Communist Party member, according to information from the South China Morning Post. CCP members range from fishermen, herdsmen, and blue-collar workers to entrepreneurs, intellectuals, and politicians, the outlet reported in 2015.
Roy’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller’s question on who the bill intended to mean by a “member” of the party, whether it’s all Chinese citizens associated with the party or just the CCP’s top brass.
It’s extremely unlikely that any purchase of private land in the U.S. by anyone in China wouldn’t need the Chinese government’s approval. That said, the legislation may run afoul of anti-discrimination laws unless there’s greater specificity of who will be prevented from purchasing land.
This is a good idea and should be extended to Chinese ownership of American companies with strategic value. If the cost of doing business with China is weakening our security, we should limit our dealings as much as possible.
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