Senior officials of WH Group Limited, the world's most prominent pork producer, and its U.S. subsidiary, Smithfield Foods, have been identified as members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) due to their strong ties with the Chinese government. This revelation came about after a review of corporate records and was reported by the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF).
The DCNF revealed that WH Group Limited, which owns portions of U.S. farmland, including 150,000 acres across 29 states through Smithfield Foods, purchased the family-run business in 2013 for $7.1 billion. WH Group Limited is recognized as the world's largest pork producer. This disclosure comes amidst legislative actions such as bans on Chinese ownership of U.S. farmland by several states, particularly those near military bases.
The DCNF also disclosed that Wan Long, Executive Director and Chairman of WH Group Limited, holds a position in the CCP.
According to reports from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Chinese ownership of U.S. farmland has escalated from 13,730 acres to 383,935 acres between 2010 and 2021.
As per the Federal Newswire, in February 2023, U.S. lawmakers introduced the Promoting Agriculture Safeguards and Security (PASS) Act to address concerns about foreign countries—especially China—purchasing U.S. farmland and agriculture companies. The bill aims to prevent foreign adversaries from undermining American food security by prohibiting China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea from acquiring U.S. farmland and agriculture companies. It suggests making the secretary of agriculture a standing member of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and mandates reporting on risks associated with foreign purchases in the U.S. agriculture sector. This action was prompted by reports of Chinese entities threatening American food supply by acquiring agricultural land and companies.
According to the DCNF, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem stated that her office had engaged in "hard conversations" with Smithfield and concluded that they pose a national security threat due to Chinese ownership.
U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher (R- Wis.), Chairman of the Select Committee on the CCP, told the DCNF, "what we need to do is update CFIUS to ensure that it has jurisdiction over all foreign adversary land purchases, and to ensure that it has the ability to consider U.S. food security as a factor in assessing the potential risk of a transaction."
Iowa Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson conveyed to the DCNF that the CCP has "nefariously exploited loopholes to buy U.S. land, so they can exert control over our food supply and undermine our national security."
