Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., told Newsmax on Monday that China is buying up U.S. assets, especially in agriculture, to get access to our technology so they can "spy" on us while seeking "world domination."
"This is a communist government that oppresses its own people and wants world domination. They're not here for our benefit," Lankford said during "Eric Bolling The Balance" on Monday. "They're not here just so people can make a profit. They're throwing money around because they're gaining influence, and they're getting access to land, into our military bases, to be able to look in and to be able to spy."
Lankford said China was being "slick," purchasing assets in the new marijuana industry to bring in workers and help "promulgate drugs across our nation."
Politico reported Monday that House lawmakers are trying to pass bipartisan legislation to crack down on its purchases of "prime agricultural real estate" because it could pose a national security risk by endangering the food supply.
"America cannot allow China to control our food supply," Politico reported former Vice President Mike Pence saying Wednesday during a speech at the conservative Heritage Foundation while urging President Joe Biden and Congress to "end all farm subsidies for land owned by foreign nationals."
According to the report, China controlled an estimated $1.9 billion in 192,000 agricultural acres in the United States as of January 2020, and major agribusiness' like Smithfield foods which produces pork products.
"The current trend in the U.S. is leading us toward the creation of a Chinese-owned agricultural land monopoly," Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., warned during a recent House Appropriations hearing, according to Politico.
In May, Newhouse introduced a bill that would prohibit purchases of public or private agricultural land by foreign nationals, and stop them from being part of U.S. Department of Agriculture programs, except for food inspections.
"We hail from the greatest country in the world, and there is simply no reason we should be reliant on a communist country like China for our food supply," Newhouse said in a May 26 press release announcing the bill. "If we begin to cede the responsibility over our food supply chain to an adversarial foreign nation, we could be forced into exporting food that is grown within our own borders and meant for our own use."
Lankford said this is something the United States must keep a close watch on going forward, in the same way it monitors China stealing intellectual property and new technologies.
"We should be paying attention to this just like we are for other technology," Lankford said. "Because quite frankly, agriculture is the basis of our economy and modern agriculture is technology based on how we do the planning, how we do the seeds, how we do the development, so that's all very important to be able to get out there both for food security and our national security."
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.