Rural America becomes operations site for Chinese espionage
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is using rural America for its espionage operations, several reports suggest.
US officials told the Wall Street Journal Sunday they are concerned about recent attempts by Chinese nationals to gain access to sensitive US military sites. Many such attempts occur in rural areas, where Chinese nationals appear at military bases posing as tourists despite there being little tourism in the area. Some may claim to have gotten lost, while others may claim to have hotel reservations on the base.
There have been over 100 such incidents in recent years, say officials, involving Chinese nationals who are likely “pressed into service” and are required to report back to the CCP. These reports sometimes include photos and footage of sensitive US sites.
While these are considered “low-intelligence” tactics, they appear designed to provide China with an understanding of US security strength and protocols. This strategy also gives China deniability and is relatively safe for Chinese nationals. Unlike what might happen to an American caught “getting lost” at a Chinese military site, a Chinese national faces no worse than a trespassing charge.
But tourists suddenly appearing at military bases are not the only threat from China. Corporations loyal to the CCP have been known to purchase land in American rural territory close to military sites.
Last month, electric vehicle battery maker Gotion announced its purchase of 270 rural acres near Grand Rapids in Big Rapids Township, Michigan. The location lies about 60 miles from US military armories and within 100 miles of a US military facility.
Gotion is owned by Chinese tech firm Gotion High-Tech, based in Hefei, China. The company pledges loyalty to the CCP several times throughout its Articles of Association.
Article 9 states, “The Company shall set up a Party organization and carry out Party activities in accordance with the Constitution of the Communist Party of China. The Company shall ensure necessary conditions for carrying out Party activities.”
The company also set up the Gotion High-tech Co., Ltd. Committee of the Communist Party of China which, according to Article 115 “shall perform its duties in accordance with the Constitution of the Communist Party of China.”
Nevertheless, the company’s purchase of 270 acres to build a new battery plant has received the blessing of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Biden administration. According to the Treasury Department’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), the transaction does not pose a national security threat.
Gotion’s 270 acres are in addition to the 384,000 acres of US land — about twice the size of New York City — already owned by the Chinese, according to a US Department of Agriculture 2021 report. This includes a recent 370-acre purchase in North Dakota by the Chinese company Fufeng Group, whose Executive Chairman Xuechun Li is considered an active CCP member and supporter. The location is just a 20-minute drive from a US Air Force base housing sensitive drone technology.
There are also concerns that China may be using its placement in rural America to interfere with US agricultural advances.
Last month US lawmakers held a roundtable in Iowa to hear from several farmers who have alleged that CCP operatives are taking their genetically engineered seeds to reproduce them and steal the intellectual property.
“Every farmer that plants a seed that has been genetically modified is paying a tech fee,” farmer Louie Zumbach told NewsNation. “So, when they steal that and they use all that technology for nothing they are stealing from every Iowa farmer and every farmer in America that’s using that type of technology.”
In 2016 a man was arrested for stealing genetically modified seeds to sell to China and spent three years in prison. In 2012 other operatives were accused of stealing agricultural trade secrets for China, a crime which reportedly costs American companies $150 billion annually.
