Is this a national security problem? It could become one soon. China is doling out hordes of cash to buy American real estate. Over $6 billion was spent gobbling up American land last year. One purchase raised eyebrows since the plot of land is near a US Air Force base with military drone capabilities. Leah quoted senior Gatestone Institute fellow Gordon Chang, who said this was an "impossibly stupid" move (via NY Post):
Chinese investors were the most active buyers of US real estate last year among foreigners — spending a record $6.1 billion on homes mainly in Florida and California, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Buyers from mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong spent an average of just over $1 million per transaction to purchase existing homes — with nearly a third of those deals (31%) involving the acquisition of property in California, according to the NAR.
[...]
Foreign-based investors were twice as likely to make an all-cash purchase compared to resident foreign buyers.
Nearly six out of 10 Chinese buyers and 69% of Canadian investors made all-cash purchases while a little more than a quarter of Mexican and Brazilian buyers did the same, according to NAR.
It's Uranium One all over again. That sale got approval by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, which should have been a bigger story in 2016. Uranium One was gradually bought by a Russian company, Rosatom, in a series of controlling stake purchases between 2009-2013. The result would be a Russian-owned company controlling one-fifth of our uranium production capacity. Uranium One's chairman also donated large sums of money to the Clinton Foundation during this period.
Chinese land grabs near US military bases are unconscionable. We all know Beijing's spy network is vast and efficient. They've infiltrated Congress, cultural institutions, and higher education. We need to keep an eye on these purchases. With China smelling the weakness from this administration, they're bound to get more aggressive. They're already trying to stop an arms sale to Taiwan. They shared our information about the Russian military buildup in Ukraine with Moscow before the invasion. They know Joe won't do anything.