Ron DeSantis Sounds Alarm On What China’s Doing Right Under Our Noses
(TargetLiberty.org) – Chinese investors have been pouring money into property across the globe. They’ve paid particular attention to residential and farmland in America. So much so that officials have warned it threatens national security and the US food supply chain. In Florida, business people from the communist nation are helping to fuel an already existing housing crisis — and the Republican governor isn’t happy about it.
DeSantis Discusses China Issues
On July 22, Governor Ron DeSantis spoke to Fox News personality Laura Ingraham while he attended the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in Tampa. The television host told him there’s a concern across the country about China purchasing so much land. She explained there are reports that prices in the Sunshine State are increasing, partly due to the residential land grabs by the communist country’s investors.
DeSantis responded that he doesn’t think the investors should be able to do it. However, he explained companies could have undeclared connections to the Chinese Communist Party that state officials don’t always know about during a sale.
A Huge Problem
According to a report by the National Association of Realtors, Chinese nationals are the top foreign buyers of housing in the US. They spent $6.1 billion on residential properties from April 2021 to March 2022. That is an increase of 30% from the previous year. Lawmakers haven’t addressed the impact these purchases are having on the real estate market. However, there’s some movement to try to save farmland.
In May, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) introduced the Prohibition of Agricultural Land for the People’s Republic of China Act. The bill seeks to prohibit any US foreign national with ties to the Chinese government from buying private or public farmland. It would also prevent the entities from participating in Department of Agricultural programs, except for food safety expectations.
In a statement, Newhouse said there’s no reason Americans should have to rely on China for their food supply. He added if our country begins to “cede the responsibility” for the supply to a foreign country, it could potentially force the US to export “food that is grown within [its] own borders and meant for [its] own use.” In other words, the US food supply could be in danger even though the farmland in the country is plentiful.
Newhouse’s legislation has not passed the House yet.
Should lawmakers prohibit China from purchasing farmland and residential property within America?
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