Have the establishment “Powers That Be” claimed another victory for their pals in Beijing?
By a supermajority composed of both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, the South Dakota state Senate on Tuesday voted down a bill, supported by Republican Governor Kristi Noem, that would have created a panel to review foreign land purchases within the state and given the governor’s office authority to veto such purchases — all in the name of protecting national security from foreign adversaries like China.
Noem’s bill would have established a state-level version of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which under federal law has the power to approve or disapprove major U.S. transactions. CFIUS-South Dakota would review proposed transactions, and the legislation would empower Noem to unilaterally veto transactions reviewed by the committee.
As South Dakota Public Broadcasting (SDPB) reported, the proposal, Senate Bill 185, was opposed by most of South Dakota’s agricultural special interest groups, culminating in the bill’s defeat by a 23-11 vote.
Critics of the bill, like Republican state Sen. David Wheeler, said the plan would give the executive branch too much power.
In a statement to Breitbart News, Noem framed the issue as one of national security versus special interests:
This is an issue that came up months ago when we saw a land purchase in North Dakota, our neighbors to the north, where a Chinese entity bought up land next to their Air Force Base, saying they were going to build a corn plant, but there wasn’t enough even corn grown in that area to sustain a facility like that, and it came under question. I think we all agree that we shouldn’t allow our enemies to have a presence, especially close to our national security infrastructure. We have Ellsworth Air Force base, which is going to be the home of the B21s. We want to make sure that those who have the chance to purchase land here in our state love America and that they want to do good, not do us harm
We also agree that this is a national security issue and that protecting America is important and that this has been a real threat to our country, and with the B21 coming to South Dakota, we are a target for exactly the kinds of activities that China is doing in other places, such as buying up land and assets and from other countries that hate us.
The idea of restricting or banning land purchases by foreign entities — especially purchases by Communist China and individuals or firms affiliated with it — has become popular in Republican circles.
Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas has signaled support for similar legislation in his state. And President Donald Trump has included in his 2024 platform a measure to ban China from purchasing American farmland.
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis reportedly wants to stop the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from purchasing property in the Sunshine State.
“If you look at the Chinese Communist Party, they’ve been very active throughout the Western Hemisphere in gobbling up land,” DeSantis has said. “That is not in the best interests of Florida to have the Chinese Communist Party owning farmland, owning land close to military bases.”
Noem further told Breitbart that “the opposition has not come to the table and given us other solutions and other things they think would work that would give us this kind of accountability and make sure that we have a review of land that’s purchased in South Dakota.”
“They haven’t given us articulated reasons as to why they’re opposed to the bill, so for me, this is an issue the public has brought to me for many, many months. They care about this,” the governor added.
This isn’t the first time Noem has sought to curtail China’s influence on her state. She was the first Republican governor to push for a ban of the Chinese app TikTok on state devices, and other GOP elected officials have since followed her lead.
In Texas, for instance, not only has the app been prohibited on state devices for about a month, but major state universities are now also banning access to TikTok on school internet.
The New American has extensively covered the CCP’s efforts to influence U.S. agricultural policy. These efforts include the work of a Chinese Communist Party influence group with ties to Microsoft founder Bill Gates, which helped organize an event designed to convince U.S. government officials to partner with China on American agriculture.
The news broke at approximately the same time that Gates became the country’s biggest private owner of farmland.
In Virginia, the Chinese bought Smithfield Foods and its 460 large farms and facilities in 26 states, employing tens of thousands of Americans — just one of many examples of the CCP’s growing stake in American food production.
China continues to strengthen itself militarily and economically while cementing ties with nations like Russia — all in order to more effectively challenge the United States.
But Beijing’s greatest advantage by far is the Fifth Column it has working on its behalf within America’s halls of government.
