Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders made the announcement Tuesday at a news conference in Little Rock, that the state is forcing the sale of some Chinese-owned land over an issue of national security.
"I'm announcing that Syngenta, a Chinese state-owned agrochemical company, must give up its land holdings in Arkansas. Syngenta owns 160 acres in northeast Arkansas which it uses primarily for seed research," the governor explained.
The land is owned by a subsidiary of the China National Chemical Company called Northrop King Seed Company. The property, which Syngenta has owned for 35 years, is located in Craighead County.
Huckabee Sanders warned not to underestimate the importance of a seed company. "Seeds are technology. Chinese state-owned corporations filter that technology back to their homeland, stealing American research and telling our enemies how to target American farms," she stated. "That is a clear threat to our national security."
The governor has no doubt the research will get into the Communist Chinese Party's hands.
"The Chinese government enacted a law in 2017 requiring Chinese citizens abroad to collaborate with their country's security officials on intelligence work, with no questions asked," she said. Newsweek points out Syngenta was acquired that same year by China National Chemical Company.
Huckabee Sanders acknowledged these are troubling times, and that the U.S. can no longer afford to underestimate the threat its enemies pose.
"This is not about where you come from. We welcome Chinese Americans," she offered. "For too long, in the name of tolerance, we've let these dangerous governments infiltrate our country. Arkansas will tolerate them no longer."
According to Reuters, Syngenta must divest itself of the land within two years. If the company fails to do that, the attorney general of the state can take legal action to force Syngenta out of Arkansas.
Beijing does not play fair
Lt. Col. Bob Maginnis (USA-Ret.), author of "Kings of the East," explains China wants the land for more than just the seeds.
"The issue here at stake, of course, is the technology associated with seeds," he tells American Family News. "Governor Huckabee is making it clear that the Chinese state-owned corporation is not going to use Arkansas as a platform to steal American technology."
According to Maginnis, Communist China has very few original ideas and prefers to steal and replicate technology instead. "They scarf up every bit of technology they can," he says. "They have 300,000 students in this country, and those students are strategically placed so they can capitalize on what they need."
On top of that, says the national security expert, China is crafty and duplicitous: "There's not one area that you can trust the Chinese on because they're not fair players. It's like Hamas – they don't play fair."
And he contends the U.S. is "asleep at the switch" when it comes to its adversary. "They're using economic measures, cyber measures, the drugs flowing across our southern border – those are all part of that irregular warfare that they've been fighting against us. I mean, it's across the board."
10/19/2023 -- Comments from Bob Maginnis added.
