Sen. John Fetterman and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have found common ground — and they don’t want the Chinese government on it.
Mr. Fetterman said the Chinese government should own “zero” agricultural land in the U.S., echoing real estate ownership restrictions in a new Florida law under Mr. DeSantis.
“I hope many of our colleagues agree that the Chinese government and other U.S adversaries should own zero, zero agricultural land in our country — I believe that,” Mr. Fetterman, Pennsylvania Democrat, said at a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing on Wednesday. “I mean, they’re taking back our pandas, you know, we should take back all of their farmland.”
He was referring to the three pandas at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo that are being sent back to China later this year. The pandas were gifted to the U.S. after President Nixon’s famous visit to China in 1972
The recall of the pandas underscores the growing tension between the two superpowers.
The conversation surrounding Chinese-owned farmland in America has been growing louder. In May, Mr. DeSantis signed multiple bills that would “combat the influence” of the Chinese.
One of the bills prohibited any government agencies, businesses and citizens from the People’s Republic of China, from owning land in Florida. It also stops the Chinese from owning any land that sits within 10 miles of a military base or any type of critical infrastructure.
In Congress, Rep. Frank Lucas introduced the Agricultural Security Risk Review Act that would ban the purchase of land by the People’s Republic of China. It is heading towards a full floor vote in the coming weeks.
Mr. Lucas, Oklahoma Republican, is chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.
At Wednesday’s GOP debate, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley pledged that she would go after China too. She also criticized former President Donald Trump’s handling of China, saying that’s where he “went wrong.”
She said Mr. Trump focused on trade with China rather than paying attention to how they were buying American farmland and “killing Americans.”
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.