National security issues have been raised by an unknown company’s over $1 billion land acquisitions close to a California Air Force Base.
According to public documents, “Flannery Associates” has spent more than $800 million on over 54,000 acres of land near the Travis Air Force Base that is zoned for agricultural use since 2018.
Investigation Continues into Suspicious Land Purchase
According to Flannery’s legal counsel, the organization is run by Americans, and 97% of its funding comes from Americans.
Federal investigators have been looking into this for eight months, but they still haven’t been able to pinpoint the company’s actual backers or whether this is accurate or not.
Since the beginning of the year, this so-called mystery business has increased its purchases, leading to a government probe into its motives. It is still unknown why Flannery bought property close to the base.
The Foreign Investment Risk Review office of the Air Force is presently looking into Flannery Associates. There have been other recent land purchases near military sites that have sparked controversy of this nature.
News Nation investigated a now-canceled transaction with the Chinese-owned Fufeng Group in Grand Forks, North Dakota, a few months ago.
The acquisition of 300 acres of farmland close to the Grand Forks Air Force base generated concerns about possible espionage and was ultimately abandoned as a result of community backlash.
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Chinese Company’s Project Faces Michigan Backlash
In Green Charter Township, Michigan, another project is now on hold due to similar opposition to a proposed plant by the Chinese company Gotion, which makes batteries for electric vehicles.
According to the USDA, China owns about 384,000 acres of agricultural property in the US, and their rate of land acquisition is geometrically increasing.
Over the previous five years, Chinese ownership of farmland in the United States has surged by 55%, with roughly 75% of it being in the South and only 16% on the West Coast.
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