Georgia GOP Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee has offered up a piece of legislation that should never have been necessary in 2021 because it should have been something lawmakers took care of decades ago.
The legislation is called the Military Perimeter Transparency Act and it directs the sitting secretary of defense to issue on regular basis reports on land purchases or occupancy around U.S. military bases by representatives of foreign adversaries.
Think China.
The Epoch Times reports:
The reports, which would be submitted to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives, would also include recommendations regarding the “appropriate response” to foreign adversary ownership or occupancy in the vicinity of U.S. military installations. …
Green’s bill offers a definition of “foreign adversaries” pursuant to the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act.
“It’s critically important for the Department of Defense to identify when foreign adversaries like China or Russia acquire land near American military bases,” Green said in a statement.
“America’s adversaries, especially those with a history of cyberattacks, espionage, and disinformation warfare, should never be allowed within reach of a U.S. military installation. Doing so would be a risk to our security and a major strategic mistake,” he added.
“The term ‘foreign adversary’ means any foreign government or foreign nongovernment person engaged in a long-term pattern or serious instances of conduct significantly adverse to the national security of the United States or security and safety of United States persons,” says the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act, passed in February 2020 “to safeguard U.S. communications systems from threats posed by foreign suppliers, such as Huawei and ZTE, that are linked to foreign adversaries like China,” the outlet adds, citing the legislation.
Green’s legislation comes on the heels of the purchase of 130,000 acres of land in west Texas near Laughlin Air Force Base, the U.S. Air Force’s largest pilot training facility, by a former Chinese military officer-turned-billionaire.
In April, China-watcher and hedge fund manager Kyle Bass testified to lawmakers in Texas and Congress about the purchase, which is supposed to become the site of a Chinese-owned wind farm that will be connected to the state’s power grid.
“Proximity of these wind farms to our largest USAF pilot training base [30 miles from Laughlin Air Force Base and only 10 miles from its restricted airspace], creates a myriad of potential illegal surveillance opportunities for the former Chinese military officer Sun Guangxin,” Bass said in the testimony.
Of course, it does. But it also raises a larger issue: Why isn’t U.S. law and policy already configured to prevent foreign adversaries from owning land near sensitive military bases? Where were Texas authorities? Where were U.S. intelligence agencies? Why wasn’t this purchase thwarted in some way?
***News Junkie? Stay Informed With Our FREE Mobile App***
“What China is so good at doing in the United States is exploiting every kind of crack and crevice that we have in our open society and our democracy and our rule of law,” Bass he added during an interview with the American Thought Leaders program recently.
Our intelligence agencies have warned for the past few years China is America’s biggest threat in the foreseeable future. Letting a PLA general buy a lot of land for any reason near a top military base is insane.
