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- Spy fears spark flurry of proposed laws aiming to ban Chinese land ownershi
Spy fears spark flurry of proposed laws aiming to ban Chinese land ownershi
Spy fears spark flurry of proposed laws aiming to ban Chinese land ownershi
Lawmakers in Texas, Florida, Arkansas and in Congress have proposed laws banning citizens of China from buying land, homes and other buildings in the United States.
It's a move they say will help protect the United States from interference by adversaries like China's government, which they accuse of spying, theft and risking the American food supply. Former president and 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump has backed the efforts.
A federal proposal filed by a bipartisan group of members of Congress has been dubbed the "Promoting Agriculture Safeguards and Security Act." Eleven states are considering versions of the same measure, and Iowa already has a ban in place.
The downing of what U.S. officials say was a Chinese surveillance balloon on Saturday has brought fresh attention to the growing tensions between the U.S. and China in several areas, from trade and tariff disputes to military maneuvers.
But critics say the laws – which sometimes also include bans on land purchases by North Koreans, Russians and Iranians – hark back to racist laws from the early 1900s preventing Asian Americans from becoming property owners.
"It is scapegoating, it's stigmatizing, and it plays into the view of Chinese Americans and Asian Americans as the perpetual foreigner: They can never be American enough," said Manjusha Kulkarni, executive director of AAPI Equity Alliance and founder of Stop AAPI Hate. "And when you put these policies into place, you perpetuate that stigma and the attacks on Asian Americans."