Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem earlier this month banned companies based in six hostile countries, including China, from owning or leasing agricultural land in the state, including carve-outs of major Chinese-owned employers. signed the bill.
of law The bill included a provision that would allow Smithfield Foods to continue leasing land in South Dakota despite Chinese ownership. Smithfield Foods is a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based WH Group Limited, a company led by members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that DCNF previously reported is one of South Dakota’s largest employers.
The bill’s lead sponsor, Republican state Rep. James Wangsness, said the bill was “strictly tailored to exempt Smithfield,” citing the company’s economic importance to South Dakotan farmers. ” he told DCNF.
“While this was not our preferred position, we needed to avoid financial hardship that would be detrimental to the local producers who contract with Smithfield,” he continued. “This exemption clearly highlights the problems that foreign ownership poses.”
Noem said in January that former Smithfield CEO Kenneth Sullivan was “taking instructions from China,” adding, “He is working with me on the lives of the people of South Dakota.” , didn’t care enough to work with me on how to best serve them,” he told DCNF. (Related: How much US farmland is China buying up?)
“In South Dakota, we have the added pressure of having Ellsworth Air Force Base in our state,” she continued. “We cannot allow China to buy up land that surrounds critical parts of our national security,” she said.
Smithfield leases hog production from a farm in South Dakota. according to to local media.
South Dakota’s new law prohibit Companies based in China, Russia, Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Venezuela buy or lease farmland in the state. However, the law allows prohibited entities to lease agricultural land “for the sole purpose of contract feeding of livestock in an animal feeding operation by a family farming unit, family farming corporation, or certified agricultural corporation.” There is.
WH Group, through Smithfield Foods, manages more than 100,000 acres of land across several different states. according to To the United States Department of Agriculture.
governor’s office mention DCNF did not mention Smithfield’s exemption Wednesday in response to Nom’s Congressional testimony that touched on the dangers of Chinese farmland ownership.
“This year marks the 30th year that Governor Noem has been working on this policy. [agricultural] policy,” a spokesperson for Noem said in a subsequent statement. “While she has serious issues with Mr. Smithfield, she is proud to be the first state in America to take the lead and ban six evil foreign governments that hate America from purchasing our farmland.” I think so.”
China or any other evil foreign government should never own American farmland. That won’t happen in South Dakota.
South Dakotans have the freedom to farm and ranch. That freedom should not extend to our enemies. pic.twitter.com/aIT2UvDLrR
— Kristi Noem (@KristiNoem) March 8, 2024
DCNF had previously identified four executives and the chairman of Mr. Smithfield’s parent company as members of the CCP.
For example, WH Group Chairman Wanlong is a veteran of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), has held several positions in the Chinese government, and is recognized in company filings as a member of the Chinese Communist Party.
One of the company’s executives, Ma Xiangjie, served as a representative of the National People’s Congress (National People’s Congress), “China’s highest organ of state power.” according to Go to that website. The National People’s Congress is run under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. according to To the Congressional Executive Committee on China.
Smithfield, formerly a US-owned company, was acquired by WH Group in 2013 for $7.1 billion after the Obama administration approved the sale.
Smithfield has exported hundreds of thousands of pounds of pork to China since WH Group acquired it in 2013. Some of the meat was sent to Shuanghui Investment Development Co., Ltd., a Chinese company that operates the People’s Liberation Army’s food storage center. Help the Chinese military prepare for emergencies.
In testimony to Congress in January, former CIA Director Leon Panetta expressed concern that Chinese companies could use their presence on the U.S. mainland to conduct espionage activities.
Asked about Gothion, a battery maker with ties to the Chinese Communist Party, building a factory in Michigan, he said: “They’re setting up manufacturing units, setting up whatever they can, and using it for their own intelligence purposes. I will take advantage of it.”
Smithfield Foods did not immediately respond to DCNF’s request for comment.
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