Lawmakers consider Chinese communist threats to agriculture
A recent hearing by the U.S. House Agriculture Committee on the threat the Chinese Communist Party is said to represent to American agriculture focused on Chinese purchases of agricultural land, cybersecurity risks, and intellectual property theft.
The head of the agriculture committee, Glenn "GT" Thompson, stated that the threat comes from the Chinese Communist Party, not from specific people.
"Although aggressively pursuing tactics that threaten our nation's ability to feed itself, the Chinese Communist Party has gone out of its way to reduce its reliance on American agriculture," the speaker stated.
According to Thompson, the dangers are complex, strategic, explosive, and call for a planned, preemptive reaction.
According to Thompson, China has been stealing American intellectual property, hacking vital cybersecurity and related infrastructure, weaponizing agriculture, increasing its trade, and acquiring farmland in the United States at an alarming rate in recent years. "All of these compromise our resilience, rural communities, and national security."
acquisitions of land
The governor of South Dakota and a former member of the House Agriculture Committee, Kristi Noem, claimed to have direct knowledge of the communist party of China's efforts to gradually seize control of the country's food supply.
They began purchasing our fertilizer companies decades ago, so restricting our access to fertilizer. Then, as I was working on state and federal program and policy implementation, I watched them buy up our chemical industries," Noem remarked. "I saw firsthand how we sold citizenship to Chinese communist party members in exchange for their investment in our processing systems; as a result, the Chinese government or communist party now owns the majority of our processing facilities. They are now advancing on our territory. They will fully control our food supply once they have acquired all of our land.
- According to Noem, the Chinese Communist Party's holdings of agricultural land in the United States surged by 5,300% between 2010 and 2020.
- China reportedly possesses over 384,000 acres of agricultural land in the United States, valued at more than $2 billion, according to Noem. "We should all find that concerning."
- According to Noem, the real figure might be higher because state and federal governments don't keep much track on foreign interests.
- According to Noem, South Dakota spent two years putting a bill into effect that gives them the ability to track land purchases within the state.
The Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party's ranking member, Raja Krishnamoorthi, stressed to the group how crucial it is that laws of this nature protect innocent individuals. He cited a Florida legislation that forbids Chinese nationals from owning real estate in the state, claiming that this has a detrimental effect on the Asian-American population.
The committee also talked about the theft of American seeds and other agricultural technologies.
Thompson stated, "We have seen China stealing intellectual property for a long time, from semiconductors to seeds, and not to mention the scale and sophistication with which China can manipulate critical infrastructure as exposed vulnerabilities in American technologies." China has long exploited its legal and regulatory system to steal intellectual property. "This interference has taken many forms, from increased disruptions of irrigation and transportation systems to data breaches and theft of agricultural research."
Krishnamoorthi related a story from 2023 about an Iowa farmer who discovered a guy burrowing in his maize.
He stated that, following a thorough investigation, the authorities discovered that the individual was searching for exclusive corn seeds to return to his Chinese seed company employer.
Gallagher proposed that Congress could better safeguard intellectual property related to agriculture.
Exchange
Given that China is one of the United States' main commercial partners, senators suggested that taking federal action would be difficult.
The House Ag Committee's ranking member, David Scott, stated that the committee does not want the discussion to incite violence against Asian Americans.
He declared, "This is about agriculture policy, not people policy."
According to Scott, $33.7 billion of US agricultural exports were made to China alone in 2018.
