There’s an uproar in the heartland about China buying American farmland, undoubtedly for nefarious purposes.
To fight this alleged threat to our food supply, national security or whatever’s handy, state and local governments are lining up to limit or ban China and other foreign entities from purchasing U.S. farmland.
China is the special target of the recent moral panic, which includes the bipartisan political obsession with TikTok, and the fallout (so to speak) of the Chinese spy balloon episode that riveted the nation for 15 minutes or so.
But just how much land does China own in the U.S.? Turns out, they are not even close to the biggest foreign land owners in the country. According to the Congressional Research Service, that honor goes to…Canada:
Five countries accounted for approximately 62% of all foreign-owned U.S. agricultural land in 2021. As a share of all foreign-owned acres, these were Canada (31%, mostly forestland), the Netherlands (12%), Italy (7%), the United Kingdom (6%), and Germany (6%). Other countries with holdings of more than 500,000 acres were Portugal, France, Denmark, Luxembourg, Mexico, Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, Japan, and Belgium.
How much U.S. land is in Chinese hands?
…USDA reports that China accounted for 383,935 acres, or 0.9% of total foreign-owned U.S. agricultural land as of year-end 2021.
In other words, less than that obvious threat to our national security, Belgium. Or something like that.
We could assign this panic about China’s land purchases to a thoroughly unwelcome return of the “yellow peril” — a nasty moral panic (with a heavy dollop of racism) that has ebbed and flowed in the U.S,. for nearly 200 years.
Or we could ascribe it to a new sort of red scare, which, historically, has caused otherwise reasonably people to see a communist hiding behind every tree and under every bed.
None of this is intended to minimize the larger challenges and outright threats China poses to the U.S. and the West as a whole. Mr. Xi’s government is not a friend or partner to the U.S. It is, and always has been, an enemy of human freedom and human rights (ask the Tibetans or Uyghurs about that). And of course, there’s China’s generous support for its authoritarian vassal state, Russia.
The bottom line: China is an opponent. But we should not be stampeded into thinking everything Chinese companies do is intended to undermine America. Fortunately, some who understand the nuances – and economic realities – of the U.S.-China relationship:
Farmer Scott Hays, 55, said he was “very nervous” about the U.S.-China relationship. For years, American farmers have supplied China with soybeans, corn, beef and pork while Chinese factories filled the shelves of Walmart and Target with affordable clothes and electronics, he said.
“It’s unfortunate we’ve got ourselves in this situation of distrust,” he said. “I don’t trust them either. But gosh dang, we’ve got more that we could work together on than fight over. The common man in both countries won’t do well if we keep going in this direction.”
And that last bit is the lesson we should take from all of this. Away from the permanently panicked and the professionally outraged, there’s a big, wide world of people just trying to make a living. Some of them even use TikTok.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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If China owns OUR farmland we cant Feed ourselves or the world
Higher prices for sure
We become the serfs (medevil Europe)
NO land to China
Cancel sales
NO adversary should own any of our land no any other government. Anytning bought by any Chinese entity is eventually controlled by the CCP.
THIS AUTHOR MUST BE COMMUNIST OR A RADICAL LIBERAL ! CHINA IS OUR ENEMY AND THEY SHOULD NOT OWN ANYTHING IN AMERICA. OTHER COUNTRIES SHOULD ALSO NOT BE BUYING OUR FORESTS OR OUR FARMLAND ! ITS TIME TO TAKE BACK OUR COUNTRY FROM ALL AMERICA HATING COUNTRIES AND THAT MEANS THE NEW COMMUNIST PARTY RUN BY GO BRANDON AND HIS SON AND SOROS !
The acres of land owned by China is irrelevant. The exact locations and the strategic defense assets within range of electronic surveillance from those locations is much more important. Also, don’t view Chinese companies as you would American ones. They all can be controlled by the Chinese government in some way or other by coercion or other tactics. Look at the huge “donation” the largest online retailer in China made to the country after saying something mildly critical of the government. When I travelled in China, people in military uniforms would attend meetings we had with customers. It is not about racism. It is about a leader who is antagonistic toward the US and appears to be preparing for war.
Exactly my point also. It’s not the quantity It’s the location, which just happens to be near our military bases! 🤬😈😠 🇺🇲🙏⚖🗽🇺🇲🙏⚖🗽🇺🇲
The Chinese plan for all that “farmland” is huge wind farms. Wind farms are a double win for them. They build the wind farm with infrastructure that they manufacture themselves and sell megawatts at DC supported ridiculous prices. We’re schmucks.
Yes immediately but not just China any foreign country or people like gates, that are trying to manipulate our food, and cause shortages, that means any American Soil only to Americans in good standing give these countries back their money they paid and send them packing out of this country
Here ia a nuance for you. There is nothing regarding Chinese land purchases that is not subject to influence and likely direct control by the CCP. Probably much of the acquisitions here have a strategic implication. The CCP is an adversary and they are a command and control society. The “common man” in China has nothing of the freedoms of the US “common man”. The two groups are not comparable. One key difference is that the Chinese would never allow a foreign company to buy up land around or near military facilities or likely anywhere they felt insecure. We should not either.
What percentage of Chinese land is owned ( as opposed to leased ) by foreign nationals? I bet it is less than the countries mentioned in the article.
Well, with a Bolshevik like Justin ‘Fidel’ Castreau in charge, perhaps now it’s ‘The Canuck Peril.’
Non citizens should not be able to buy land in this country. Can I go to China and buy a bunch of farmland? NO I can’t.
Your article discusses the amount of land the CCP owns as a percentage of total. What you conveniently overlooked is the majority of this land is located near US military operations. Obviously there is a reason for this and you don’t have to have a 150 IQ to understand why this is. Congress needs to enact a bill that requires any land within 250-300 miles of a military base, not be owned by a foreign country, much less an adversary like the CCP!
“a heavy dollop of racism.” that alone says a lot about the article and author.