Arkansas Becomes First State to Force Chinese Company to Give Up Locally-Owned Land
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders held a press conference announcing that the state will now force a Chinese-owned company to either sell its land or forcibly relinquish it.
Northrup King Seed Co., a subsidiary of Syngenta Seeds LLC, which is owned by China National Chemical Company (ChemChina), and ultimately, by the Chinese government, has been ordered by Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin to divest its 160-acre property in the state.
“The company that owns Syngenta, ChemChina is also on the Department of Defense’s list of Chinese military companies posing a clear threat to our state,” Governor Sanders said at the press conference. “Seeds are technology. Chinese state-owned corporations filter that technology back to their homeland, stealing American research and telling our enemies how to target American farms … The Chinese government enacted a law in 2017 requiring Chinese citizens abroad to collaborate with their country’s security officials on intelligence work — with no questions asked.”
The law, referenced by Governor Sanders, mandates that “any organization and citizen” must “support and cooperate in national intelligence work.” When asked about China’s U.S.-based entrepreneurs, the U.S. Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center at the time said that “Chinese company relationships with the Chinese government aren’t like private sector company relationships in the West.”
“This isn’t about where you’re from,” Governor Sanders added at the press conference. “[W]e welcome Chinese-Americans, Russian-Americans, and anyone else who has given up foreign oppression for American freedom. This is about where your loyalties lie, we simply cannot trust those who pledge allegiance to a hostile foreign power … That’s why I signed Act 758 … banning public contracts with the CCP. We will make sure that every company operating in Arkansas is a friend to Arkansas.”
Several states have enacted laws banning Chinese state-owned firms from purchasing land in recent years, citing numerous national security concerns, as the large plots of land are often located in close proximity to U.S. military bases.
