A law that would ban Chinese citizens from purchasing certain types of farmland has been passed in the Texas Senate.
Chinese citizens may soon be banned from purchasing various types of farmland in Texas, with the state’s senate passing a bill on Wednesday aimed at banning the practice which has raised serious concerns in other parts of the U.S.
Senate Bill 147 aims to ban citizens of four nations deemed hostile to the United States — China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea — from purchasing farmland, with lawmakers fearing that the sale of such land to individuals hostile to America could jeopardise the country’s food security.
According to a report by Fox News, Texas State Senator Lois Kolkhorst justified the bill as necessary to ensure the U.S. can fend off foreign threats, with the bill also banning Chinese ownership of oil, timber, and mineral-bearing land.
“Food security is national security,” she told the American broadcaster. ” Oil and gas, our rare earth materials, timber – we need to be protecting that.”
By contrast, Democrats in the states have attacked the bill as being discriminatory, with state Rep. Gene Wu arguing the legislation “takes away the rights of an entire class of people without due process and solely on the basis of their national origin”.
“National security is a serious issue, but if we are concerned about the actions of foreign governments, then legislation should only affect foreign governments and their agents,” she said.
Texas is not the only U.S. state looking to prevent Chinese ownership of American farmland, with Florida also looking at implementing some sort of ban on Chinese entities purchasing land in the state.
“We want no CCP land purchases, and obviously, they are not going to do it directly,” Governor Ron Desantis said regarding the issue. “They will have shell companies, so we’re going to have to have a system in place to scrutinize this.”
“But why would we want them buying farmland?” he added. “Why would we want the CCP to own land near a military base or own critical infrastructure?”