Three years ago, the Chinese took advantage of a defect in US protocols to block land purchases near American military bases and almost acquired terrain near Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota.
Now, Senate Banking Committee Republicans are championing a new bill titled the “Protect Our Bases Act,” which is intended to patch up that protocol glitch to ensure the Chinese can’t acquire land near sensitive US installations.
“The Chinese Communist Party’s efforts to infiltrate and surveil all parts of the US national security apparatus requires vigilance from our national security agencies,” Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC), who is introducing the bill, told The Post.
“This legislation will enhance the review of foreign real estate transactions near critical national security installations, helping ensure CFIUS [the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States] has the information it needs to protect our homeland and keep our nation safe.”
It’s being co-sponsored by Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Thom Tillis (R-NC), John Kennedy (R-La.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) and Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio).
The bill comes weeks after Ukraine’s Operation Spider’s Web, in which Kyiv is said to have deployed some 117 drones in bases deep within Russian territory and detonated on dozens of aircraft, destroying at least 20 of them.
That breakthrough military operation set off alarm bells for militaries around the world over the potential vulnerabilities of bases to drone strikes. China is widely seen as the global leader in drone production.
While the US has existing procedures intended to block Chinese land purchases near critical military outposts, a flaw in the system was nearly exploited in 2022.
That year, Chinese company Fufeng Group, which produces sugars, fertilizers and more, attempted to acquire land near Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota.
Typically, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States is tasked with investigating foreign transactions in the US and making recommendations on which ones to block.
However, at the time, CFIUS concluded that it couldn’t review Fufeng Group’s attempted purchase because the Department of Defense didn’t list the base as a critical site for national security purposes.
Ultimately, the City of Grand Forks blocked the purchase, but national security buffs believe it exposed a weakness in US protocols for blocking Chinese land purchases.
The Protect Our Bases Act seeks to address that by requiring agencies in CFIUS to annually update their data on military facilities that need to be designated as sensitive sites and submit annual reports to Congress about its real estate lists.
The measure is also intended to make critical records more attainable for CFIUS to use for national security reviews.
