China's increasing US real estate portfolio a major cause for domestic concern: Carter
Chinese real estate purchases near American military installations have caused concern
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Concern is growing over Chinese interests purchasing large swaths of land, particularly farmland, in the United States – including one sensitive parcel in North Dakota in the proximity of a military installation.
Investigative reporter Sara Carter told Fox News on Monday that the USDA estimated the CCP government owned about 192,000 acres of U.S. land in 2019, which she added has been augmented since March 2021 with a collective $6.1 billion in land.
"Most of the land is very close to sensitive US military installations," she told Fox News. "For example, in 2021, 130,000 acres of land was purchased right here in Del Rio, Texas, along the US-Mexico border by a former Chinese military official. That land is very close to Laughlin Air Base. It actually surrounds that sensitive airbase."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Not only is Laughlin a security concern given Chinese proximity, but the open, uncontrolled U.S.-Mexican border presents another complication, given the amount of Chinese-linked fentanyl is being smuggled in from Mexico, she added.
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Xi Jinping (Bikash Dware/The Rising Nepal via AP))
Carter also noted what North Dakota officials are becoming wary about – a Chinese company's purchase of 370 acres in the vicinity of Grand Forks Air Force Base.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., recently told Fox News the facility houses sensitive drone technology used for space and satellite operations.
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Joe Biden meets with China's President Xi Jinping during a virtual summit from the Roosevelt Room. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Carter told Fox News' Sean Hannity the most important purchase transacted in Montana near a U.S. nuclear site.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Right now, the federal government is actually conducting an investigation to see whether those Huawei cell towers were intercepting and could block our communications within our nuclear silos and systems," she said.
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"This is very concerning. I spoke with U.S. intelligence as well as foreign intelligence officials about this. And they say they've been sounding the alarms for quite some time and they're very concerned that it already might be too late."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Carter noted much of what would be considered the Chinese private sector are mostly linked to the Chinese Communist Party government anyway, meaning most any purchase of land in the United States is cause for concern toward Beijing.
"[These] massive land grabs by the Chinese government [come via] Chinese firms: Chinese firms connected to the Chinese Communist Party."
Fox News' Joshua Nelson contributed to this report.