Roar of protest as Chinese firm buys land near US air base, home to 'top secret drone tech'

A similar concern was raised earlier in the year in Japan, when a company with close Chinese links acquired a piece of land in Hokkaido, about 35 kms away from a Japanese Air Self-Défense Force radar site.

The debate in the US comes amid the Biden administration’ broader efforts to reduce America’s economic reliance on China in sectors like food, semiconductors, and minerals, considered key to the supply chain.

In his National Security Strategy, US President Joe Biden has identified China as its main rival, which was trying to seriously challenge the America-led world order.

The Chinese company, Fufeng Group Ltd., chose 370 acres of land in North Dakota’s Grand Forks for a mill to produce ingredients for animal food.

But its location near an Air Force base that is home to ‘top secret drone technology,’ has raised concerns about foreign acquisition of land in the country, particularly by the Chinese.

“China’s ownership of US farmland is a threat to our food security and national security,” said one parliamentarian in a statement. “Americans need transparency about the federal government’s efforts to address this growing threat.”

In the past decade, China’s decision to buy farmland in middle- and lower-income countries has got wide media coverage.

But the knowledge that this also happens in the US has upset policymakers and renewed the debate over growing Chinese presence in the country.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, the American contractor responsible for developing high-tech drones at the air base, has expressed serious concern over the Chinese presence nearby.

“Chinese business efforts are inextricably linked with Chinese government efforts,” the contractor said.

It added that, “Given the proximity to critical national airspace and sensitive military operations in and around Grand Forks Air Force Base, American leaders should be very, very concerned.”

According to US Department of Agriculture (DAO) data, foreign ownership of land has doubled in America between 2009 and 2019.

It said that foreign investors owned more than 35.2 million acres of US agricultural land that accounted for 2.7 percent of US farmland.

Last year, China’s acquisition of the WH Group had received national attention, and raised concerns about Chinese intervention in US food systems.

The WH Group is the largest pork producer in the US, and the owner of 1,46,000 acres of farmland in Missouri.

According to US official records, by the start of 2020 China controlled about 192,000 acres of agricultural land in America, worth $1.9 billion. This included land for farming, ranching, and forestry.

A wide range of political leaders have now begun to ask for tighter restrictions on foreign ownership of America’s farms.

“America cannot allow China to control our food supply,” US Vice-President Mike Pence said recently, and urged the Biden administration to “end all farm subsidies for land owned by foreign nationals.”

According to the DAO report, China’s agricultural investments in other countries had grown more than tenfold between 2009-2018 .

The Chinese government has actively supported investments in foreign agriculture, aiming to control a greater piece of China’s food supply chain.

Interestingly, it is Canada that holds the largest share of foreign-held US agricultural land, accounting for nearly 32 percent.

Investors from the Netherlands, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Germany collectively hold another 31 percent of foreign-held US land.

In total, foreign investors hold 37.6 million acres, or about 3 percent of all privately-held agricultural land in the US. The US has about 900 million acres of agricultural land.

Compared to other countries that own land in the US, China holds less than 1 percent of foreign-held land.

But China needs more arable land to produce food for its people. Therefore, analysts believe that Chinese companies will be under pressure from its government to acquire more land in the US, both through legal and illegal means.

The US DAO’s guidelines require foreign investors to report their purchase of agricultural land.

But lawmakers are sceptical if the USDA is able to track changes to how the land is later used.

The close connection that many Chinese individuals and firms enjoy with the government in Beijing poses a huge challenge to the US administration.