Senate Republicans are launching an effort to ban Chinese citizens from buying land in the United States

FIRST ON FOX: Republican senators are introducing legislation that would ban China from buying U.S. land entirely.

The No More Inch or Acre Law, led by Republican Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota and Katie Britt of Alabama would require the sale of CCP-owned or “influenced” land deemed a national security risk. I would tell the president to take steps to prohibit the purchase of public or private real estate in the US by Chinese citizens or companies.

China owned about 350,000 acres of farmland in 27 states last year, according to data from the US Department of Agriculture.

As of 2022, foreign entities and individuals owned 43.4 million acres of US agricultural land, which is nearly 2% of all US land.

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Lawmakers have argued that China’s land purchases are a national security risk because many of them are located near military installations. For years, Chinese citizens have done just that attempted to breach US military installations, often through the use of surveillance drones or posing as tourists.

“For decades, the Chinese Communist Party has been gobbling up American farmland and real estate,” Cotton, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement.

“At best, this subjects American land and resources to China’s best interests, not those of the United States; at worst, these purchases serve as outposts for Chinese espionage campaigns against American companies and military bases We cannot allow Chinese citizens or anyone affiliated with the CCP to own one more inch of American soil and any American land exploited by current Chinese ownership should sell”.

Some states have already banned foreigners from buying land.

Smithfield Foods, which has a Chinese parent companyit constitutes the largest portion of Chinese-owned land at 110,000 acres.

A Chinese land purchase in 2022 set off a fever pitch when food producer Fufeng Group bought 370 acres for corn milling near an Air Force base in North Dakota.

“One acre of American farmland owned by the Chinese Communist Party is one acre too many,” Britt said. “The CCP’s strategic acquisition of farmland, especially near our military installations, is not only a national security risk, it is a threat to our economic and food security.”

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That prompted the Biden administration to propose a rule requiring any foreign company or individual looking to buy land within 100 miles of certain US military bases to get government approval.

Last month, a Chinese national was arrested at San Francisco International Airport before he could board a flight to China accused of trying to fly a drone over Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

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Efforts to prevent China from buying U.S. farmland are nearing US military installations have gained traction among Republicans in both chambers.

“It is a major concern to me that countries like China have increased their purchases of American farmland tenfold over the past decade to control our land and threaten our food, energy and national security,” Rep. Randy Feenstra , R-Iowa, who led efforts in the House to bar China from buying farmland suitable for energy production, told Fox News Digital.