Birdsell: Why New Hampshire Can't Ignore The Risks Of Chinese Land Purchases

By State Sen. Regina Birdsell, NH Journal

When you think of the word “espionage,” do you think of secret agent 007 in exotic locations like Moscow? Or foreign spies placing wiretaps in the halls of the White House?

How about a land sale in rural New Hampshire?

The reality is that quiet, safe states like New Hampshire can be just as vulnerable as Washington, D.C., or New York. And with modern technologies, they can be just as valuable for those with ill intent.

A few years back, I first became aware of the extent to which the Communist-run government of China is attempting to infiltrate our nation and commit acts of espionage. From spy balloons to intercepting radio and satellite transmissions, it’s like an old spy movie — but not quite as exciting. For example, China is purchasing hundreds of thousands of acres of land in the United States, largely in agricultural areas. Personnel from the New Boston, N.H., Space Force Base recently testified in the Senate Study Committee and the House Commerce Committee about their concerns that a hostile player could purchase land directly outside their facility. You may also remember stories about a Chinese company that purchased land near the Grand Forks, N.D., Air Force Base. These folks are on our shores, acting in broad daylight — and if it doesn’t scare you, it should.

For me, the North Dakota land sale was a real turning point in how I viewed the threat of Chinese espionage moving into a small, rural state. Since that time, I have made it my priority as a state senator to do whatever we can to stop them. Over the past several sessions, I have introduced legislation to prevent these types of land purchases by hostile nations such as China. As we’ve heard from our federal delegation as well as in the multitude of public hearings on these bills, there are major holes in the enforcement of federal laws that can, and should, be plugged with state-level legislation.

Progress on this legislation was slow. We had detractors who spent years fighting against this common-sense protection of our national security. They told us we were being paranoid and these types of sales weren’t happening in New Hampshire. They said the legislation was unnecessary and impractical. But this past June, we were finally able to pass this critical bill and have it signed into law by Gov. Kelly Ayotte. It is a huge step forward in defending our nation against those who would do us harm.

Of course, now there is no doubt this type of scenario could play out right here in the Granite State. In Nashua, one of the richest men in China is controversially involved in purchasing a water bottling plant connected to the city’s water supply. Their original plan included the purchase of water rights, but the public backlash put those plans on ice.

This sale in Nashua has led to some confusion locally about the relationship between the Chinese government and “private” companies and citizens of China. For that, some context is needed about the way the Chinese governmental system works.

For starters, every citizen of China is considered by their government to be an agent of the state. What that means from a practical perspective is that each and every Chinese citizen represents the CCP whether they want to or not.

Further, “private” corporations in China do not run the same way they do in a true free-market system. Recently, the CCP has begun to increase its influence inside privately held companies through a combination of complex rules and political pressure, including having CCP party members and members of the Chinese military take formal roles inside the company. While these corporations are technically still privately held and run, the CCP’s reach into their decision-making is unquestionable. This is true of companies that operate solely in China, as well as international corporations operating throughout the world.

So while these companies are not official branches of the CCP or the Chinese state, they are clearly influenced and directed by their Communist Party bosses. We don’t know if Nongfu has nefarious motives. We don’t know if the CCP decision-makers are behind their decision to pay well above market rate for the bottling rights to Nashua’s water supply. But I can tell you for certain that if our new land ownership prohibition had passed last year, the Nongfu purchase may never have happened — and the state would have had much more authority to get answers to our questions.

I don’t think Ian Fleming ever wrote about New Hampshire, but if “From Nashua With Love” ever gets made, I’d see it on opening night.

State Sen. Regina Birdsell (R-Hampstead) is Majority Leader in the New Hampshire State Senate. She wrote this for NHJournal.com.

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.