Steve Yates of America First Policy Institute (AFPI) and South Dakota state Sen. Erin Tobin (R) detailed the threat China poses to American security in a recent op-ed with The Dakota Scout.
“However, there is a threat to South Dakota agricultural land. South Dakotans must be vigilant because foreign adversaries own a significant amount of U.S. agricultural land,” they wrote in the op-ed.
“Allied countries, such as Canada, the Netherlands, and Italy, hold large tracts of U.S. land, which does not necessarily impact our national security," Yates and Tobin wrote. "On the other hand, countries such as Communist China, spreading malign influence at all levels of our society to undermine us, should not be allowed to acquire it– especially in South Dakota, where we are preparing to welcome the B-21 bomber to Ellsworth Air Force Base.”
Yates, senior fellow and chair of AFPI’s China Policy Institute, recently visited South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) to speak about the Chinese encroachment into the U.S. through land purchases and other types of influence.
“Why in the world would we allow them [the Chinese government] to have access to our agricultural land and influence our supply chains? They're not a responsible actor – they’re different from every other government and entity around the world right now, and so we have to start putting in rational systems to monitor who’s doing what with whom and allow the majority will within our states and all of our states and territories to protect the American people, our families, and our jobs,” Yates said on Fox Business before his visit.
Noem said Yates “is 100% spot on,” saying that Republic governors need to take a stand against the threat China makes when the Biden administration won’t, she said on Fox Business.
Noem announced a plan to block purchases of agricultural land by any country that "hates" the United States in an piece posted in December on South Dakota’s official state website and originally published as an op-ed on Fox News' website. Noem wrote that she is promising to make that happen with the help of legislators. The creation of a new Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States – South Dakota would give her recommendations about foreign interests trying to purchase agriculture land in the state, Noem wrote in the article.
“If they are tied to China or another nation that hates us, I will reject the purchase,” she wrote in the editorial. She cited "a report" that found that foreign investors own almost 2% of all agricultural land in the U.S., although that percentage is smaller in South Dakota.
Yates and Tobin argued in the Dakota Scout op-ed that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is positioning itself as an adversary to the U.S. politically and economically. They wrote that securing and dominating the world food supply chain is an integral part of the CCP’s Belt and Road Initiative and cited U.S. Department of Agriculture reports stating Chinese investment in U.S. agricultural land has increased 5,300% from 2010 to 352,140 acres in 2020, worth approximately $1.9 billion.
This is a national security and food security issue that should be addressed through legislative action, Yates and Tobin said in the op-ed. At least 12 states have already enacted laws to prevent this and California has passed the Food and Farm Security Act.
