Chinese companies have purchased land near 19 US military bases from Florida to Hawaii, intensifying concerns about Chinese espionage activities and national security risks.
The report by The New York Post on June 21 highlighted long-standing concerns of US security agencies that these Chinese companies might use the purchased land for espionage activities.
These military bases include some of the most strategically significant US military bases, such as Fort Liberty in Fayetteville, North Carolina (formerly Bragg Fort), Fort Cavazos in Kileen, Texas (formerly Hood Fort), Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in San Diego, California, and MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida.
The report also included a map of the United States showing the rapid expansion of agricultural land purchased by Chinese-funded enterprises. These agricultural lands are strategically located near US military bases across the country.
The related report has sparked concerns among military observers who fear that these Chinese landowners may use drones under the guise of agriculture to conduct surveillance over military bases or set up monitoring equipment like radars and infrared scanners.
Retired US Air Force Major General Robert S. Spalding III told The New York Post, “It’s worrisome because of its proximity to strategic areas.”
He added, “These locations could be used to establish intelligence collection points, and as we’ve seen in the past, these landowners may wield political influence locally.”
The United States allows foreign companies to invest in agricultural land. Canadian investors lead with 31% of all foreign-owned lands, followed by investors from the Netherlands, Italy, the UK, and Germany. Chinese agricultural land ownership ranks 18th at 0.3%. However, the concern lies in the potential for Chinese companies to engage in espionage activities.
Since Chinese President Xi Jinping began implementing the “civil-military fusion” strategy in 2017, Chinese espionage activities have become pervasive, posing a significant threat globally.
A report by The Wall Street Journal in September 2023 highlighted over a hundred incidents in recent years where Chinese citizens attempted to infiltrate US military facilities, including an incident at a missile launch site in New Mexico and the discovery of divers near a government rocket launch site in Florida.
In April of this year, Politico reported that to curb national security risks brought about by Chinese companies and individuals purchasing land, over two-thirds of US states, primarily Republican-controlled like Texas and Florida, have enacted or are considering laws restricting or prohibiting foreign land ownership. While these laws typically target multiple adversarial countries, China is the primary focus.
In May, the US White House issued an executive order mandating a Chinese company and its partners to sell the real estate they had purchased near an Air Force base in Wyoming due to national security concerns.