Members of Congress press administration on Chinese plant near ND base
Dozens of GOP members of Congress have urged the Biden administration to scrutinize the potential national and food security threat posed by a proposed Chinese-owned agriculture plant in the works just miles from the strategic Grand Forks Air Force Base.
In a sharply worded two-page letter to the Secretaries of Defense, Treasury and Agriculture, the House members urged the three key Cabinet secretaries to address “the potential national security risks that appear to rise from this transaction.”
The recent acquisition of property north of Grand Forks, North Dakota, by the Fufeng Group, a Chinese-based manufacturer with close links to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is an alarming development for our national security, the congressmen wrote in the letter obtained by Fox News.
According to the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission, the Grand Forks Air Force Base has exceptional intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities, making the recently purchased land the ideal location to closely monitor and intercept military activity. The presence of a CCP-affiliated corporation near a military installation potentially undermines the integrity of our high-capability military bases, jeopardizing our strategic interests.
Infrastructure work has been suspended on the $700 million Fufeng corn milling plant in Grand Forks while the project undergoes a review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). The congressmen also underscored the potential threat to food security, given the increasing amount of U.S. farmland being bought up by foreign powers.
This CCP-tied entity will have potential advantageous opportunities to perpetrate espionage, including actions and activities carried out under commercial cover or auspices. We are concerned about the precedent this land purchase will set and its ability to serve as the model for our adversaries to encroach on American security, particularly through purchases of farmland in our congressional districts housing several military installations…
Fox News points out the controversial Grand Forks project is just the latest Chinese-owned agricultural project to raise national security concerns.
The CCP-linked farmland acquisition is far from the first land buy by the Chinese government and the purchases have been heavily scrutinized for the national security risks presented as they have been approved under both the Biden and Trump administrations.
A wind energy farm project near Del Rio, Texas, was reportedly nixed by the Texas government after it was revealed the 130,000 acre —around the size of Tulsa, Oklahoma — was only miles away from the Laughlin Air Force Base where pilots are trained.
It was also revealed the Chinese billionaire who owns the company behind, GH America Energy, formerly served in the Chinese military and has deep ties to the CCP.
Both North Dakota Republican Senators Kevin Cramer and John Hoeven also strongly oppose the Fufeng project on national security grounds.