ExclusivePentagon to Work With USDA to Protect US Farmland

Welcome to China in Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. Our top story, protecting U.S. military bases from China. Warren Agricultural Department's joined forces to block Chinese companies from buying American land. China alone owns 265,000 acres of American agricultural land. Lawmakers are sounding the alarm over foreign money flowing into U.S. non-profits, especially from China and its influence on American society. The People's Forum, an American tax-exempt group, hosts events and courses pushing Communist Party propaganda. The U.S. won't decouple from China, only de-risk. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson says the U.S. and China are going to be rivals, but the relationship can still be productive. And Congress sends a message to China, any invasion of Taiwan will have consequences. The House passed the Protect Taiwan Act, outlining how the U.S. would respond to threats. Exclusion from international bodies must be a part of that response. Preventing China from spying on U.S. military bases, the Department of War is teaming up with the Department of Agriculture to better protect America's farmland. War Secretary Pete Hegseth speaking alongside the Secretary of Agriculture Wednesday, highlighting the need to protect farmland from foreign adversaries. Something people may not know is that shortly after 9-11, U.S. forces in Afghanistan uncovered al-Qaeda training manuals that specifically targeted America's agriculture for attack. Bottom line is we're not dealing with hypotheticals here. The threat is real, it is asymmetric, and it must be neutralized. China alone owns 265,000 acres of American agricultural land. Back in 1983, it was only 2,000 acres. These actions expose strategic vulnerabilities in America's food and agriculture supply chain. Thankfully, President Trump, the first president to truly understand that protecting the homeland must begin with protecting our farmland. Last year, the Department of Agriculture announced the National Farm Security Action Plan. Its goal is to elevate American farmland as a point of national security. Since then, the Trump administration worked with various states to end the purchase of American farmland by foreign adversaries, including China. Over the years, Chinese companies have been purchasing land near military bases across the U.S. Several examples include a Chinese food producer that purchased farmland near Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota. Then there was a Chinese energy company who bought land near Laughlin Air Force Base in southern Texas, and a Chinese-linked crypto firm snapped up land near Francis E. Warren Air Base in Wyoming. On Capitol Hill Tuesday, House lawmakers are sounding the alarm over foreign money flowing into American non-profits. They say groups tied to the Chinese Communist Party are using U.S. tax breaks to fund protests, push radical policies, and influence elections. Entities Washington correspondent Jack Bradley has the details. Foreign actors fueling disruption and illegal activity in America using a dark web of tax-exempt groups. The Chinese Communist Party funding American non-profits at the center of a contentious hearing on Capitol Hill. The House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees tax policy, focused on how money tied to the CCP flows into U.S. tax-exempt groups. Money they say fuels protests, pushes radical policies, and still gets taxpayer subsidies. The People's Forum, an American tax-exempt group, hosts events and courses pushing Communist Party propaganda, incites violent protests and riots. To operate YouTube channels to reach youth. Others operate fake news websites. Still more lobby Congress. Federal property vandalized at Union Station. American flags burned and police officers assaulted. Airports blocked at JFK and LAX. This is not grassroots protest. It is a repeatable system for paralyzing American infrastructure on demand, financed through U.S. tax law, and aligned with a hostile foreign power. One example is billionaire Neville Royce Singham, a former U.S. tech executive now based in Shanghai. The panel says Singham funnels millions to shell companies that then fund non-profits, which in turn train protesters and even spread pro-CCP propaganda. Neville Royce Singham donated over $20 million to the People's Forum through shell companies. Witnesses say that the problem is the tax code itself. They argue loopholes allow unlimited foreign cash into non-profits without disclosure. There is no real requirement that discloses anywhere that they are receiving foreign funds. This is a huge threat to foreign interference in our elections. Many also tying the funding directly to swaying U.S. policy. Most recently, non-profit groups have joined a push to defund ICE and attack law enforcement after receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations linked to the Chinese Communist Party. The witnesses are pushing Congress to close loopholes in federal law that allows unlimited foreign cash flows into non-profits. Some states already are moving in that direction, with Alabama and Michigan just passing laws last week to block foreign money in ballot measures. And a bill is now moving its way through Congress that would do that on the federal level. Reporting by Jack Bradley, NTD News. Joining entity Steve Lance to discuss how the CCP is taking advantage of American non-profits is Steve Yates, Senior China Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation. Steve, this is really hard to believe. I want to play a soundbite from one of the witnesses today on Capitol Hill, Bruce Dubinsky. We simply do not know how much foreign money is flowing through the U.S. non-profits or for what purposes. This lack of visibility creates real national security risks when foreign donors, including foreign governments, state-linked entities, sanctioned actors, or cutouts, use charitable structures to move money, gain influence, or mask illicit activity. Steve, you could help us understand, is this actually happening? And break down what gain influence and mask illicit activity means when it comes to how the CCP is operating in the U.S. Well, you're right that there are many layers to this challenge. So we'll start at the easiest part. There's foreign and domestic. And under the current tax code, when these contributions are coming into non-profit public policy research institutions, there are many. I work at one. There are not the same requirements to disclose the sources of those fundings that would say exist for a political action committee or a political party or things like that. So when you end up with activities that result in demonstrators or disruptors going onto campus and getting in the way of Jewish students going to class, or you end up with organized people going in to interfere with legal operations to remove illegal migrant criminals, you've crossed over from, say, the public policy research function into political action. And so the input nozzle for the money is through this non-profit that is not meant to be used that way. And so there isn't this public disclosure or accountability for foreign funds. So to your point, there was another witness today on Capitol Hill who was giving examples of foreign non-profits, Steve, and what they're advocating for in the U.S. Here's that. Abolishing private cars, eating less meat, training judges, protests, suing energy companies. These are just a few examples of what is being financed by foreign money, and it must stop. So these were not necessarily Chinese non-profits, but they were found to have some ties with the Chinese Communist Party, Steve. Why would these charities, and let's say in particular the ones being influenced by China, take up these sort of causes in the U.S.? Well, at least in my assessment, there is somewhat of a neo-Maoist Marxist movement that is consistent across a lot of these different protest movements. I don't consider them to be organic and genuine protest movements. People can judge whether that's a fair or unfair judgment on my part. But when you look at it, there is just a ringing resonance with what I studied out of the Cultural Revolution about how these movements are really meant to break up society, to disrupt fundamental institutions, everything from the family to faith institutions to the regular functioning of government, the social compact. And they do all of this. Why? It is to break apart. You don't have these foreign funds coming in necessarily to promote the positive value of the American family. You don't see these funds coming in to celebrate free enterprise and success. You don't find the positive side of this. So it's really in the disruption and breaking. That's where, say, the Communist Party of China and the United Front might have common cause with actors in other theaters of the world. Steve, you just mentioned the United Front. Break down what that is. Well, United Front is a broad category we use. It's actually taken from what the Communist Party organ calls itself, but it's basically the outward-facing manipulation machine of the Communist Party. It can be used in somewhat positive ways to socialize overseas compatriots, but it's also used as a way to manipulate information, manipulate people to the advantage of the interests of the Communist Party of China. And so when you have these third parties that are not necessarily a part of the United Front, they can be co-opted by funding through them outreach that's under the umbrella of cultural outreach. Most Americans are good-natured and they'd want to think positive things about the Chinese people, and so they'll engage, but they don't understand that beneath that surface there's really this aim to capture and use you for the of disrupting American society. And Steve, perhaps another pillar under the United Front is political warfare. There was one witness today who was talking about how non-profits have also become major sources of political spending. Let's have a listen. Drives anyone seeking to influence our politics to send money not to parties and candidates where it would be disclosed, but into non-profits where the money is hidden, sometimes under multiple layers, and also where the money is unlimited, both in dollar amounts and also in its source, or in governments and foreign nationals like Han's fees can give unlimited amounts. So Steve, how could this type of loophole potentially be exploited by CCP actors? Well, number one, because in America there are a lot of areas where you can have very vigorous public policy advocacy that an average American would say that sounds pretty political or ideological, but that's actually very lawful and encouraged under our tax code to engage in research and then advocate for the policies that you believe in. It's different than, say, going to Congress and saying, vote up and up or down on House Resolution 123 or what have you, not a specific vote. It also isn't endorsing a specific candidate. That's where it goes over into these other entities that can advocate for parties and candidates and outcomes for bills and legislation. So that's sort of a gray zone that exists. It unfortunately does create an opportunity for this other kind of influence to come in, and this is, I think, a clever use by some of our adversaries and challengers to find a way in. Again, the key litmus test is, though, if we have government watchdog agencies that want to protect America, is are these groups primarily looking to disrupt or are they looking to build? And when you find, it's sort of by their fruits shall they be known. And so if you have them giving money to the American Red Cross and they're helping people in disaster relief, I think we have very minimal political risk when it comes to things like that. But when you find them directly tied to agitator organizations, protest movements that go from peaceful marching into actual violence, then they've crossed a line. And I think that's really where we're going to have to work out how do we craft statute better and how do we equip our government to be a better provider of our common defense, which is one of the first reasons we have a federal government. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson says the relationship with China could be productive even as the two countries remain rivals. Treasury Secretary Scott Tuesday. We are going to be rivals referring to China. At the same time, he said U.S.-China relations are, quote, in a very comfortable place. Besson added that the U.S. doesn't want to decouple from China, but it needs to de-risk. He says Washington is working to retake sovereignty in key industries like critical minerals, medicine and semiconductors. China currently dominates the supply chains for critical minerals and medicine. Meanwhile, Taiwan produces nearly all of the world's most advanced chips. The island lies just 80 miles off China's coast and faces ongoing threats of invasion from Beijing. Besson added that over the long term, China will need to rebalance its economy, pointing to its $1 trillion trade surplus with the world. He's set to meet with Vice Premier Hou Lifeng in the coming weeks to prepare for President Trump's China visit in April. NVIDIA is being told follow strict U.S. licensing rules or risk losing access to China's AI chip market. At a congressional hearing Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the terms were negotiated with the State Department and that NVIDIA must live with them. One major sticking point is a proposed know-your-customer requirement aimed at preventing China's military from accessing NVIDIA's H200 chips. Last week, Reuters reported that the hasn't agreed to these terms, raising national security concerns. China had agreed on H200 chip imports for its tech giants Alibaba and Tencent, as well as AI startup DeepSeek. All three firms reportedly have close ties to the Chinese military. The sale of these chips were allowed after President Trump and China's Xi reached a trade truce in South Korea last October. The agreement also gave a one-year delay to a rule blocking U.S. tech exports to thousands of Chinese firms, as long as they aren't tied to the military. Coming up, Congress sends a message to China. Any invasion of Taiwan will have consequences. The House passed the Protect Taiwan Act, outlining how the U.S. would respond to threats. Exclusion from international bodies must be a part of that response. And Taiwan's president is pressing lawmakers to pass a stalled $40 billion defense budget. Part of the funding would go toward purchasing American weapons. More on that after the break here on China In Focus. Welcome back to China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. A warning from Congress to China. Invading Taiwan would come with consequences. The House passed the Protect Taiwan Act on Monday. It aims to remove China from six international financial organizations, including the G20, if Beijing threatens Taiwan's security. Here's Representative Frank Lucas, the bill's sponsor, speaking on the House floor. The United States' response to an invasion of Taiwan should be robust and include numerous sanctions and economic penalties. Exclusion from international bodies must be a part of that response. Taiwan's foreign minister posted a statement thanking lawmakers who supported the bill. He wrote, this achievement once again highlights the cross-party support of the U.S. Congress for Taiwan's security and democratic resilience. Taiwan's President Lai Ching-de is pressing lawmakers to pass a stalled $40 billion defense budget. Opposition party lawmakers have blocked it and proposed a significantly smaller package instead. Lai warns that delays of the budget approval could raise questions in the international community about Taiwan's resolve to defend itself. I believe that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi won the support of the Japanese people because in addition to strengthening Japan's defense capabilities and making Japan strong and prosperous, she also demonstrated Japan's determination to work with allied countries to maintain regional peace and stability. And over in Hong Kong, a father has been convicted under the city's draconian national security law. 69-year-old Kwok Ying-seng was found guilty of trying to access funds connected to his daughter Anna Kwok. She currently lives in exile in the U.S. and leads the Washington-based Hong Kong Council as its executive director. Anna is wanted by Hong Kong police for her pro-democracy activities over the years. Her father had recently tried to access funds from an insurance policy under her name. Hong Kong authorities accused him of trying to seize the assets of a so-called absconder. He pleaded not guilty. U.S. lawmakers have criticized Beijing for using national security laws to intimidate overseas activists. Pro-democracy British Hong Kong businessman Jimmy Lai was sentenced by a Hong Kong court to 20 years in prison on Monday. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement calling Jimmy Lai's verdict an unjust and tragic conclusion to this case. To discuss entities, Steve Lance was joined by Congressman Chris Smith, who co-chairs the Congressional Executive Commission on China. Congressman Chris Smith, thank you so much for joining. Steve, thank you for having me on. I appreciate it. It's great to have you with us, Congressman. So British Hong Kong businessman Jimmy Lai just sentenced to 20 years in prison. He's 78 years old, really dire health conditions. It's ultimately a death sentence. What message is Beijing sending with this sentencing? Well, they're showing their true colors, and that's total intolerance. They crush anyone who speaks anything contrary to the Chinese Party's rule, and it's a draconian rule at that. They are misusing, we know they would, the so-called security law in Hong Kong. So every man and woman, including international business people, need to be very wary about anything they do in Hong Kong. As a matter of fact, if this doesn't have an impact on their concern, that they too could be at risk. I mean, Jimmy Lai is a great man, not a good man, just he's a great man who spoke truth to power, did it in a very, very non-confrontational way in terms of the way he went about writing. And Apple Daily did an amazing job in calling for democracy and human rights observance, respect the basic law, which has been thrown out the window by the Chinese Communist Party leaders. So, you know, he needs, we all need now to rally behind him. I had Sebastian, his son, testify at one of my hearings. Brilliant, a chip off the old block, as I told him, just an amazing young man, and ditto for Claire, his daughter. So we need the rally as never before, because this is a major, major worsening. It's a microcosm of Tiananmen Square to do this to such a brave and noble man. Congressman, at the center of this trial was the relatively new national security law that ultimately outlawed anything in Hong Kong that Beijing didn't approve of. Talk to us more about the intention and impact of this policy and how detrimental it's been to Hong Kong. Well, I think this is ruinous of Hong Kong. It used to be an economic gem. It used to be one of the greatest places on earth where people would trade. It was a rather significant departure from the Beijing line. They promised a whole lot of things when the British gave up Hong Kong, including the UK-Sino treaty, as well as saying that they would observe the basic law, which looks a lot like the American Bill of Rights and protections, all built in. And all of it, under Xi Jinping, has been jettisoned for dictatorship. So I think Hong Kong now, and anyone who thinks they can do business there, watch out. I have a bill in right now that's going to be worked up in the Committee on Foreign Affairs about all these Americans who are being arrested in China with these bogus trials. Congressman, President Trump is expected to visit China in April. How should human rights be discussed in the negotiations and discussions with China? I think human rights should be at the core of that conversation. In the past, we've had presidents, especially Bill Clinton, who gave up the human rights on May 26, 1994. And in my opinion, that's when we lost our leverage with the Chinese, because we said, trade all you want. We're not going to hold you to account. So the president, I think, needs to make this, especially in light of Jimmy Lai, the cornerstone of his conversations with Xi Jinping. Congressman Chris Smith, greatly appreciate you joining us. Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Steve. Appreciate it so much. That's all for today's China In Focus. I'm Tiffany Meyer. If you have any feedback on the show or have something you'd like to see us cover, send us an email at chinainfocusatntd.com. We'd love to hear from you. For on the clock original news coverage, visit us at ntd.com or download our NTD app. Thanks for watching. See you tomorrow.