Ron DeSantis Calls Out Chinese Firm’s Purchase of US Farmland
(PatriotWise.com) – In response to questions about a Chinese company’s purchase of 1,400 acres of land in Florida to construct a primate breeding facility, Governor Ron DeSantis expressed alarm about the CCP’s expanding influence in the state.
According to public documents, JOINN Laboratories CA Inc. paid around $5.5 million for the site in Levy County, Florida, in July. According to reports, the business intends to develop a primate breeding and quarantine facility there.
The company, based in California, is a division of Beijing-based JOINN Laboratories, a manufacturer of pharmaceuticals with ties to the Chinese military. One of the most significant documented Chinese purchases of American land in recent years is the lab’s acquisition of ten parcels of land from L & T Cattle & Timber.
The governor’s office stated via email that said that the governor has repeatedly opposed the Chinese Communist Party CCP’s rising influence in Florida, and this proposed facility is a prime example of the type of activities we are working to ban.
DeSantis is advocating for legislation preventing communist China and other unsettling foreign nations from buying agricultural land and property close to military installations.
The governor said that frequently businesses would present themselves as private, but if you peel back the onion a little bit, they’re really under the direction of the Chinese government.
He said he believes the United States should take that issue far more seriously.
The legislation was a component of a larger strategy that DeSantis presented in September to counter the “malign” influence of foreign nations, especially communist China.
DeSantis also signed an executive order barring Florida’s government agencies from acquiring or using technology products and services from Chinese companies while standing behind a podium with a sign that read, “Stop CCP Influence,” and introduced legislation to p
rotect the intellectual property of higher education institutions from the CCP.
Concerns have been raised that an agreement between the Chinese company Fufeng and North Dakota’s Grand Forks Air Force Base could provide opportunities for spying by the communist leadership.
The project has been put on hold while the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS) reviews it for potential threats to national security.
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