WASHINGTON—South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem spoke on Feb. 15 at the America First Policy Institute about her plan to secure the country’s food supply from the Chinese Communist Party’s growing influence.
Aside from resisting the CCP’s influence through the pandemic and blocking Chinese companies such as TikTok, Noem said the crucial part that needs to be done is safeguarding the country’s food supply from the totalitarian regime.
For years, the Chinese Communist Party had been building up and purchasing U.S. chemical companies, she said, along with buying the country’s fertilizer companies and food processing systems.
“In fact, they own the largest pork production facility in my state,” Noem said.
“The Chinese Communist Party knows that if they control our food supply, they will control the United States of America,” she said, pointing out the food shortage during COVID-19.
Communist China acquired 5,300 percent more U.S. agricultural land between 2010 and 2020; the governor said, “we don’t want foreign evil governments to be our neighbors.”
A China-affiliated organization purchased land in North Dakota last year with plans to allegedly build a corn plant, she said.
Noem said her bill would establish a Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, South Dakota, at the state level. That will rely on agricultural experts, national and security experts, and legal counsel to review purchases, lands, leases, and South Dakota agricultural land transfers.
“If these purchases are made by a foreign person, company, or entity, they will make a recommendation to me as the governor whether the purchase should be approved or not be approved,” she said, adding that “if the purchase comes from a nation that hates us, and hates America and wants to destroy us, well then it’s not going to go.”
South Dakota does not want to restrict people’s ability to sell and buy land or conduct business, Noem said; however, if countries such as China, North Korea, Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela, do not have America’s best interest, the governor should make the best decision to protect the country.
Instead of an outright ban, she proposed conducting a thorough investigation into who the investors are.
“I think they’re [South Dakota residents] concerned that China would punish us by not buying our soybeans would punish us by not buying our commodities,” Noem said.
