It makes no sense to sell our land to China

In 2013, a Republican-controlled legislature and then-Sen. Mike Kehoe approved legislation allowing foreign-owned companies to buy Missouri agricultural land and opened the door to huge investments from Chinese-controlled conglomerates. This trend has accelerated throughout the country with Chinese companies partnering with U.S. corporations to gain even more strategic advantage within our own borders.

Make no mistake: China is our No. 1 global economic competitor and our biggest national security threat -- and yes, that means military threat. The Chinese spy balloon that flew over Missouri, collecting data on our military installations and shot down off the Atlantic coast earlier this year, underscores the economic and military risk it presents.

Using the war in Ukraine as justification, China has aligned with Russia in what appears to be a pact to check the United States' influence around the world. Congressional leaders' public displays of support for Taiwan have further agitated the communist nation and led to symbolic military provocations. Never before have we confronted a united Russia and China in global economic and military affairs.

China's Belt and Road Initiative, an effort to enslave developing countries in Africa and Latin America with infrastructure debt, allows China to secure long-term energy and natural resource contracts from debt-saddled nations, to the detriment of the western democracies. While China ignores the global climate change religion, western nations are unilaterally disarming themselves at the alter of climate change -- while China laughs.

With this backdrop, one has to wonder why it makes sense for our elected leaders to open the door to these Chinese-owned companies, and then roll out the red carpet? This is why I worked with Rep. Mike Haffner (R-Pleasant Hill) to draft House Bill 903, which would expressly ban China, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Russia, or their state-controlled entities from buying any land in Missouri. Additionally, the bill would cut in half the amount of agricultural land that could be purchased by allied foreign companies and create a mechanism to ban additional countries as needed.

But the bill has a second valuable goal: To protect the jobs of thousands of Missourians employed by allied foreign companies. From Perryville to Joplin to St. Louis, many Missourians rely on the salaries earned at manufacturing and agricultural centers across our state. We must protect Missouri farmland and our security interests, while safeguarding vital Missouri jobs.

We must also develop more robust procedures for tracking foreign land ownership in Missouri. Today, it is difficult for Missourians to determine the precise amount of farmland owned by foreign companies. Depending on which organization you ask, you'll find varying numbers on the amount of foreign-owned land in the state. One hallmark of good governance is transparency, and Missourians should be able to know with certainty who owns what land in our state.

While the House passed our legislation with the bans on China, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Russia from owning any Missouri land intact, Sen. Bill Eigel and his colleagues in the Senate amended the legislation last week, creating a loophole that will allow the practice to continue.

When the General Assembly enacted this sweeping legislation to open Missouri farmland to Chinese buyers a decade ago, they believed it to be in Missouri's best interest. However, it left us vulnerable in ways that HB 903 would fix, which was our intent.

The amended Senate bill does not include this fix and we should not let this bill become law without explicit bans on hostile nations owning our land. This should be the easy part. Creating better transparency on current foreign land ownership, authorizing the attorney general to require divestiture from land improperly acquired, and enabling the first real enforcement, should be the obvious part.

Jay Ashcroft is the secretary of state of Missouri.