A bill to slightly limit foreign adversaries\u2019 ownership of Indiana land revealed <\/a>a state agency is currently planning 11 business deals with Chinese companies worth an estimated $14.4 billion. The Indiana Economic Development Corporation, however, wouldn\u2019t release to The Federalist the names or locations of these foreign-owned ventures. <\/p>\n

In fact, said Republican state Sen. Jean Leising in an interview with The Federalist Friday morning, state lawmakers tell her the IEDC even uses \u201ccode names\u201d for its foreign business deals to preserve secrecy until they\u2019re completed. The IEDC will not even release basic information about any of these deals to the state lawmakers who give the IEDC billions<\/a> in tax dollars<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Indiana\u2019s House and Senate are due to vote on House Bill 1183 later today, hours before this year\u2019s legislative session gavels to a close.<\/p>\n

The scant details the governor\u2019s office did share with legislative leaders in an attempt to derail the bill only make the deals look more dangerous, Leising said. Those include that at least four of the 11 Chinese companies dealing with the IEDC are attempting to locate strategically in former military facilities, near aquifers, and next to a nationally critical rail intersection.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers revealed the identity of only one of these corporations, Fufeng Group, while attempting to add exceptions that would allow Fufeng to build an alleged grain processing plant 9.7 miles from a National Guard base. H.B. 1183 would keep businesses and citizens from six \u201cadversarial countries\u201d \u2014 which include Communist China, Communist Cuba, and post-Communist Russia \u2014 from purchasing or renting Hoosier land within 10 miles of U.S. military assets. <\/p>\n

These companies, including Fufeng, would be free to purchase Indiana land. So would foreign citizens with legal permission to live inside the United States. Other amendments allow for partial Chinese ownership of any Indiana land whatsoever. Leising had hoped for a tougher bill, but said any limits would be an improvement and increase Hoosiers\u2019 awareness of this major national security threat in their own neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

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\u201cForeign ownership [of U.S. land] has been growing by 2.2 million acres a year since 2015,\u201d said <\/a>Rep. Kendell Culp, the bill\u2019s primary House sponsor and a Republican. \u201cIn Indiana, 2.2 percent of Indiana\u2019s farmland is owned by foreign entities.\u201d Leising told The Federalist the 11 pending Chinese deals are \u201csomewhat spread out\u201d around the state, each in a different county.<\/p>\n

Last year, the U.S. Air Force told <\/a>North Dakota lawmakers Fufeng Group is \u201ca significant threat to national security.\u201d As a result, local government rejected Fufeng\u2019s proposal to build what it called \u201cagricultural facilities\u201d approximately 12 miles from a U.S. Air Force base. So Fufeng moved its plans to Indiana, where so far lawmakers in the Republican-controlled legislature and executive branch have been more accommodating. <\/p>\n

Not only is Fufeng\u2019s pending Indiana location fewer than 10 miles from a U.S. military base, \u201cIndiana is going to put them on top of one of the most critical rail lines in the country,\u201d says Michael Lucci, CEO of State Armor, a policy outfit. In addition, as U.S. Rep. Jim Banks, R-Indiana, has pointed out<\/a>, Fufeng likely employs Uyghur slave labor, violating U.S. sanctions.<\/p>\n

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Safeguarding our food supply chains and critical infrastructure from foreign adversaries \u2013 especially the CCP \u2013 is imperative to #NationalSecurity<\/a>. Indiana lawmakers must take action to keep threats like Fufeng out of their state and from creating unnecessary vulnerabilities. https:\/\/t.co\/L89z8osVyz<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Robert C. O’Brien (@robertcobrien) March 7, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n