🚨 A CCP-owned yacht builder sits less than a mile from a U.S. Coast Guard station in Florida. Now the state is investigating.
Florida's attorney general has opened a probe into the Fort Lauderdale property of Ferretti Group, the Italian maker of Riva, Pershing and Wally luxury yachts, to see whether it breaks the state's 2023 law barring entities from China from owning land near critical infrastructure.
The site is less than a mile from Port Everglades (one of America's busiest cruise and cargo ports), Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and a Coast Guard station.
"Italian" yacht builder? Follow the money (chart below), all from the company's own filings:
1️⃣ Ferretti's largest shareholder holds about 39.5%.
2️⃣ That shareholder is wholly owned by Weichai Group.
3️⃣ Weichai is wholly owned by Shandong Heavy Industry Group.
4️⃣ Shandong Heavy Industry is owned by the Shandong provincial government's state-asset commission, i.e., the CCP party-state.
In May, Weichai's slate won 8 of 9 seats on Ferretti's board, beating a challenge from a Czech investor. Florida's law presumes "control" at just 25%.
And Weichai is no ordinary engine maker. Its diesel engines power the PHL-11, a 40-tube rocket launcher built by Norinco, the state-owned arms giant the Pentagon lists as a Chinese military company, for the People's Liberation Army.
Why should anyone care about yachts? Modern yachts constantly log and transmit engine data, GPS positions and routes. Put enough of them together and you have a map of marinas, ports and waters near U.S. military sites.
And on Oct 1, the CCP's revised National Defense Mobilization Law took effect. Article 7 says the state will "collect and use" data closely related to defense mobilization. The law's own stated purpose is to turn "economic and social strength" into military strength.
When a reporter from Florida's Voice went to the site to ask about the Chinese ownership, he was shown the door, with his camera lens covered (video quoted below).
Beijing will call this "discrimination against Chinese companies." Funny, coming from a country where no private person or company, Chinese or foreign, can own a single square foot of land. The Party-state owns it all.
So why should a CCP-controlled company get a front-row seat next to an American port and Coast Guard station?
Florida's Voice video: https://x.com/FLVoiceNews/status/2115473994816074119/video/1
Original post: https://x.com/jenniferzeng97/status/2116271260892049772
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