According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Chinese firms and investors have bought nearly 384,000 acres of U.S. land. A former member of the Communist Party's army bought 130,000 of those acres in South Texas near Laughlin Air Force Base.
Republican lawmakers in the state want to pass legislation that would ban ownership of Texas agricultural land, mineral interests, and timber by citizens, companies, or governmental entities of countries designated by the federal government as threats to U.S. national security. This would apply to China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia.
The state Senate passed that measure (Senate Bill 147) last year, but it was blocked by leadership in the state House who seem to favor a simple "disclosure" requirement instead. Recent comments from the committee's chairman, State Rep. Cole Hefner (R), indicate House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) and his team have not changed their position on the matter.
Still, protecting Texas land has been named a legislative priority of the Republican Party of Texas, and Gordon Chang, an author and Asian policy analyst, thinks that needs to be a national agenda.
"I think Trump will look at this, and he will do something early in his term, especially about purchases of land near military facilities," Chang predicts. "I hope he goes broader and prevents Chinese parties from owning farm and ranch land in general, and he should do that. No American can own any land in China, so why do we allow the Chinese to own any land in our country?"
Bob Maginnis, senior fellow for national security at the Family Research Council, adds that there are already ways to correct the problem.
"If the Chinese government is buying land for the purpose of spying on these facilities, then we should use eminent domain or some provision in the law to deny that and to remove their influence," he suggests. "I think Mr. Trump will be able to exercise discretion in that regard; I'm not sure this administration has done that."
The Texas Farm Bureau had defended the Chinese Communist Party's right to buy up land in The Lonestar State.
