By Kim Jarrett (The Center Square)
Grand Forks, North Dakota, will deny a building permit to a China-based food manufacturer that bought land near an Air Force base, the mayor said Tuesday.
Chinese food manufacturer Fufeng Group has announced that it will buy 370 acres of land for a wet corn milling plant in 2021. The site is 12 miles from Grand Forks Air Force Base.
In a letter to US Sens. Kevin Cramer and John Hoeven, the USAF called the North Dakota land acquisition by the Chinese company a “significant threat to national security.”
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The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States said in December it did not have the authority to weigh in on the plant.
“While CIFUS has concluded that it lacks jurisdiction, the Department’s view is unequivocal: the proposed project presents a significant threat to national security and poses near and long-term risks of significant impact to our operations in the region,” Andrew said. In a letter to Hunter, Kramer and Hoven, the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics.
Grand Forks Mayor Brandon Bochenski said the city refuses to connect industrial infrastructure to the site.
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“These actions do not affect the ownership of the land because the company still legally owns the land they purchased,” Bochensky said in a statement posted by the city. website. “The response from the federal government in this process can only be seen as slow and adversarial. The directive opens up the question of the location of the Cirrus aircraft site in Grand Forks and other entities with Chinese connections across the nation, including Chinese students and professors at the University of North Dakota.
Gov. Doug Burgum said the Air Force letter finally gives the state clarity.
“Given these concerns, we support the City of Grand Forks’ decision to initiate steps to terminate the project with the Fufeng Group and support the City in finding another partner for the corn milling operation,” Bergum said in a news release. “As our farmers who compete in global markets know, agriculture is a global business and North Dakota welcomes investment from domestic companies and our friends and allies.”
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Fufeng’s purchase concerns North Dakota’s southern neighbor.
South Dakota legislators introduced a Bill On Tuesday, the United States – in South Dakota – will form a committee on foreign investment to investigate the purchase of agricultural land by foreign countries.
“With this new process, we will be able to prevent countries that hate us — like Communist China — from buying our state’s farmland,” Gov. Christy Nome said in an earlier statement. “We cannot allow the Chinese Communist Party to continue to buy our nation’s food supply, so South Dakota will lead the charge on this important national security issue.”
Syndicated with permission from The Center Square.
