House Passes Measure Blocking China From Buying US Farmland

A cross-party majority in the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill prohibiting Chinese investment in vital US land for renewable energy production.

The new legislation, which is derived from the Defend America’s Rural Energy Act sponsored by Representative Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa), was passed by a vote of 407–26 on March 30 as an amendment to an earlier bill aimed at lowering energy costs for Americans. The majority comprised 223 Republicans and 184 Democrats.

“Food security is national security,” said Representative Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.), who lent his support to Feenstra’s amendment. He added that he was proud to co-sponsor a bill that “keeps farmland in the hands of farmers and out of the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.”

Representative Clay Higgins (R-La.) stated that he was of the belief that “American policy should deal with China quite decisively and assert our massive economic leverage in every possible way.” He continued, “Wars are averted through wise economic policy, and freedom has a chance to take root”. After the passage of the new legislation, he told The Epoch Times, “My Democrat colleagues who understand these simple truths and voted with Republicans today should be recognized and commended. The entire world is imperiled because of CCP aggression, and America must lead the causes of peace through strength, and individual rights.”

Representative Don Bacon, a Republican from Nebraska, noted that his state was “one of the largest food-producing states in the nation and the world”. He told The Epoch Times, “Agricultural security is national security.”

While Chinese investors only own just under 1% of all foreign-held US land in 2021, the pace of acquisition from China has accelerated sharply. Between 2010 and 2021, land purchases from China have increased nearly 30-fold, rising from 13,720 acres to 383,935 acres.

Recently, Chinese land ownership has faced opposition in states such as North Dakota, where Chinese agribusiness Fufeng Group bought 370 acres of farmland to construct a corn mill near a sensitive air force base. In January, the US Air Force cautioned that the project posed “a significant threat to national security.” In February, Grand Forks City Council voted unanimously to scrap the project.

Previously, China-based Guanghui Energy acquired more than 130,000 acres of ranch land in Texas to construct a wind farm close to the largest Air Force pilot training facility. The founder of the Chinese firm is a former Chinese military officer.

According to Bacon, Chinese investments close to military bases are a growing source of concern, and allowing Chinese control over US farmland could pose a threat to the country’s food security and national security.