Chinese firm bought North Dakota farm near US Air Force drone base

[Kamaji]

Chinese firm bought North Dakota farm near US Air Force drone base: report

By Ariel Zilber
July 1, 2022

A Chinese company’s purchase of farmland in North Dakota just down the road from a US Air Force base that houses sensitive drone technology has lawmakers on Capitol Hill worried about potential espionage by Beijing, according to a report.

Fufeng Group, a Shandong, China-based company that specializes in flavor enhancers and sugar substitutes, recently purchased 300 acres of farmland near Grand Forks, North Dakota, a rural area that lies about a 90-minute drive from the Canadian border.

Grand Forks is also 40 miles away from Grafton, North Dakota, where a limited liability company believed to be controlled by billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates recently paid $13 million for thousands of acres of potato farmland, causing a stir among locals.

Three North Dakotans sold the land to Fufeng Group for $2.6 million, according to CNBC.

Like the Gates-linked purchase, the sale of local farmland to a Chinese company sparked a visceral reaction, according to one of the sellers, Gary Bridgeford.

That’s because the land is just a 20-minute drive from Grand Forks Air Force Base, which is believed to be the home of some of the country’s most sophisticated military drone technology.

*  *  *

Source:  https://nypost.com/2022/07/01/chinese-firm-bought-farm-near-us-air-force-drone-base-report/

[sneakypete]

Given our current "leadership",the only thing that surprises me about this is that they didn't buy the base and all it's assets instead.

[sneakypete]

BTW,it used to be illegal for foreign nations or nationals to buy real property in the US without obtaining special permission from the feral goobermint.

When did this change,and who is responsible/cashed out for doing it?

[Kamaji]

BTW,it used to be illegal for foreign nations or nationals to buy real property in the US without obtaining special permission from the feral goobermint.

When did this change,and who is responsible/cashed out for doing it?

When was that?

[sneakypete]

When was that?

@Kamaji

Don't remember. I just remember being told that a long time ago. Maybe mid-60's.

[Kamaji]

@Kamaji

Don't remember. I just remember being told that a long time ago. Maybe mid-60's.

I doubt that.

[Kamaji]

Here's an article from 1980 that discusses foreign investment in U.S. real estate; there were no comprehensive bans on foreign ownership of U.S. real estate even during WWII.  There were limited bans, mostly focused on investments by persons from enemy countries, but no comprehensive ban targeting all non-U.S. owners.

[sneakypete]

Here's an article from 1980 that discusses foreign investment in U.S. real estate; there were no comprehensive bans on foreign ownership of U.S. real estate even during WWII.  There were limited bans, mostly focused on investments by persons from enemy countries, but no comprehensive ban targeting all non-U.S. owners.

@Kamaji

Communist China isn't a "enemy country". Since when?

[Kamaji]

@Kamaji

Communist China isn't a "enemy country". Since when?

Give me a break.  Go read the article if you want to play silly word games.  The bottom line is this:  there has never been a comprehensive ban on foreign ownership of U.S. real estate.

[Smokin Joe]

Regardless of whether there is a ban or not, being just about a dozen miles away from the drones, lets them monitor and decode input signals and drone transmissions, which could well be used to counter (if not co-opt) the technology, if not hijack it.

[Kamaji]

Regardless of whether there is a ban or not, being just about a dozen miles away from the drones, lets them monitor and decode input signals and drone transmissions, which could well be used to counter (if not co-opt) the technology, if not hijack it.

Agreed.

The underlying problem is that there isn't any comprehensive requirement that such purchases be reviewed before they're allowed to go through.

[Smokin Joe]

Agreed.

The underlying problem is that there isn't any comprehensive requirement that such purchases be reviewed before they're allowed to go through.

Well, that's just part of thee local issues, IMHO, Bill Gates bought up a chunk of that prime farmland out there, recently, too.

[Kamaji]

Well, that's just part of thee local issues, IMHO, Bill Gates bought up a chunk of that prime farmland out there, recently, too.

Bill Gates owns a pittance of total U.S. farmland.

[sneakypete]

Give me a break.  Go read the article if you want to play silly word games.  The bottom line is this:  there has never been a comprehensive ban on foreign ownership of U.S. real estate.

@Kamaji

I am the one playing word games????

[Kamaji]

@Kamaji

I am the one playing word games????

Yes, you are. 

Your question was asked, and answered, with a brief mention of the very limited "trading with the enemy" type restrictions that were imposed in WWII.

Last I checked, (a) China was not an enemy country of ours during WWII, and (b) WWII ended more than 60 years ago.  So those restrictions never would have applied, and certainly don't apply now.

[libertybele]

Well, that's just part of thee local issues, IMHO, Bill Gates bought up a chunk of that prime farmland out there, recently, too.

Oh come on, that's purely coincidental. 

[Smokin Joe]

Bill Gates owns a pittance of total U.S. farmland.

From the New York Post article at https://nypost.com/2022/06/30/bill-gates-purchase-of-north-dakota-farmland-cleared/

North Dakota’s attorney general has found the sale of a couple thousand acres of prime farmland to a group tied to Bill Gates complies with a Depression-era law meant to protect family farms because the land is being leased back to farmers.

The state’s Republican Attorney General Drew Wrigley had inquired into the land sale and on Wednesday issued a letter saying the transaction complied with the archaic anti-corporate farming law. The law prohibits corporations or limited liability companies from owning farmland or ranchland, but allows individual trusts to own the land if it is leased to farmers.

The purchase of the land had raised legal questions as well as concerns that ultrarich landowners do not share the state’s values.

Gates is considered the largest private owner of farmland in the country with some 269,000 acres (108,860 hectares) across dozens of states, according to last year’s edition of the Land Report 100, an annual survey of the nation’s largest landowners. The Microsoft co-founder owns less than 1 percent of the nation’s total farmland.

Less than one percent, but still the largest single owner of farmland in the US.

[Smokin Joe]

Oh come on, that's purely coincidental. 

Unless you are interested in farming in the Red River Valley portion of North Dakota. It is likely completely independent of the Chinese.

[Smokin Joe]

Yes, you are. 

Your question was asked, and answered, with a brief mention of the very limited "trading with the enemy" type restrictions that were imposed in WWII.

Last I checked, (a) China was not an enemy country of ours during WWII, and (b) WWII ended more than 60 years ago.  So those restrictions never would have applied, and certainly don't apply now.

Chinese troops faced off against American troops in battle in Korea. That war has not ended, it is only a cease-fire in place, not an armistice.

[Kamaji]

From the New York Post article at https://nypost.com/2022/06/30/bill-gates-purchase-of-north-dakota-farmland-cleared/
Less than one percent, but still the largest single owner of farmland in the US.

Big deal.  He owns less than 1% of all farmland.  I fail to see any significance to this, other than the fact that U.S. farmland is an attractive investment.

Are we supposed to believe that this less than 1% interest will magically give Gates control over the American food system?  Really?

[Smokin Joe]

Big deal.  He owns less than 1% of all farmland.  I fail to see any significance to this, other than the fact that U.S. farmland is an attractive investment.

Are we supposed to believe that this less than 1% interest will magically give Gates control over the American food system?  Really?

Show me where I made any such allegation.

 I live in an area where farming and ranching are prominent in the economy. Farmers notice when someone who is NOT A FARMER buys up more farmland than any farmer owns. It drives up prices for actual producers. Corporate farming is illegal in this state.

[Kamaji]

Chinese troops faced off against American troops in battle in Korea. That war has not ended, it is only a cease-fire in place, not an armistice.

Any sanctions against China were lifted in 1975.

[Kamaji]

Show me where I made any such allegation.

 

It is necessarily implied in the gushing way Bill Gates' ownership of so much American farmland is conveyed.  Honestly, what is the point of the claim?  If you are now saying it's meaningless, why bring it up in the first place?

[Smokin Joe]

Any sanctions against China were lifted in 1975.

That still doesn't make them our friend.

[Smokin Joe]

It is necessarily implied in the gushing way Bill Gates' ownership of so much American farmland is conveyed.  Honestly, what is the point of the claim?  If you are now saying it's meaningless, why bring it up in the first place?

Just to watch you jump on a conspiracy theory that wasn't there.