Arkansas Plots Massive Crackdown On China As Fears Grow Over U.S. Land Grab

On Wednesday, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders unveiled a series of bills, collectively referred to as the “Communist China Defense Legislative Package,” designed to curb China’s ability to conduct business within the state. 

The six proposed bills - some introduced and others still pending - target what the governor describes as “Communist China influence” in Arkansas.

Among the measures included are provisions to strengthen existing laws by reducing the timeframe for selling prohibited land holdings, banning CCP lobbying, and preventing any Arkansas municipality from having a sister city in China.

Additionally, any college or university hosting a Confucius Institute would be stripped of state funding, as the governor asserted China often uses such institutes for intelligence purposes.

Going forward, the state will also halt the use of made-in-China goods for promotional efforts.

“President Trump is the first president in my lifetime to take a hard line against Communist China and we are proud to support that work in Arkansas by getting Communist China off our land and out of our state,” Sanders said in a statement. “Once I sign this legislation into law, Chinese Communist Party-linked companies will be banned from owning property near critical infrastructure and lobbying on behalf of Communist China, Russia, and other foreign adversaries will no longer be allowed in the state of Arkansas. My administration is putting America and Arkansas first.”

The legislation’s lead sponsors are State Sen. Blake Johnson, State Rep. DeAnn Vaught, State Rep. Britt McKenzie, State Rep. Mindy McAlindon, and State Rep. Howard M. Beaty, Jr.

“Over the past two terms, the State of Arkansas has curbed the influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) within our borders, signaling a unified and bold stance against foreign interference,’ said Rep. Brit McKenzie. “From banning Chinese military drones, to prohibiting land ownership, and now instituting severe penalties and outlawing foreign influence peddling; These restrictions aim to protect Arkansas’s economic and security interests by limiting CCP-backed entities, full stop. I’d like to thank Governor Sarah Sanders for her partnership with the Legislature as these initiatives reflect Arkansas’s commitment to safeguarding our sovereignty and ensuring the well-being of our citizens.”

The move by Sanders coincides with growing concerns over China’s land grab across the United States.

Just this week, hedge fund manager Kyle Bass sounded the alarm over the threat, calling it one of the Chinese Communist Party’s “insane battlefield asymmetries.”

"We afford them what I call battlefield asymmetries that we should not afford to them,” Bass told Chris Powers on The Fort podcast. “It doesn't matter who you are in China; you can come to the U.S., you can buy 10,000 acres of farmland in Iowa, you can buy farmland in Texas, or you can buy 100,000 acres of land between our most active airbase and the border, which happened here in Texas. You can't believe that these things are happening."

"When you ask about them buying land, it's absolutely insane that they can buy land in size over here, and then what they do when you start being more vociferous, or you even start to draft legislation to prevent it - they get like local real estate agents that are Chinese, Chinese Americans, or naturalized Chinese citizens, and they say, 'You are just a racist; how can you tell a Chinese family in America that's become Americans they can't buy a house?' The Hayman Capital Management continued. “They create false equivalencies and functional racism, and they throw it all at the screen, and they were trying, you know, now they have you on your back feet; it's just insane what they do.”

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has recently said the restriction of Chinese land ownership is a priority for the second Trump administration. “One of the very, very top of the list perhaps is the Chinese purchase of our farmland. A lot of that land is around some of our military outposts,” Rollins said.