At least five executives from Hong Kong-based WH Group Limited, which controls nearly 150,000 acres of U.S. farmland through its subsidiary company Smithfield Foods, are members of the Chinese Communist Party, the Daily Caller reported Thursday.
WH Group bought Smithfield in 2013, giving it control of vast amounts of farmland across 29 states in America. WH Group chairman, Wan Long, as well as multiple board members and senior executives of the pork giant, were identified as CCP members in a stock exchange filing in 2022, the Daily Caller found. Further, Long and others previously held — or may still hold — positions in the Chinese government, according to the report.
"It is no joke to join the Chinese Communist Party," North Carolina GOP congressional candidate Matt Shoemaker, a former Defense Intelligence Agency officer, told the Daily Caller. "You cannot just walk in and sign up. You have to show that you are a true believer."
Shoemaker added, "No foreign government should be owning American farmland. It is a national security issue, for obvious reasons."
To that end, a Missouri state senator recently unveiled a constitutional amendment that would force foreign landowners to sell off property in that state within two years. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson earlier this month issued an executive order to ban people from China from owning land near military installations.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law last May prohibiting people from China from owning additional property or buying more than a single parcel of two acres, and that it must be at least five miles from a military installation.
Overall, Chinese ownership of U.S. land ballooned to nearly 384,000 acres between 2010 and 2021, according to the report.
Smithfield itself operates 2,400 farms across 29 states and holds 26% of the total market share of the pork industry, according to trade industry sources.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem told the Daily Caller she believes Smithfield is a national security threat.
"Any time it felt like we would have the opportunity to work together, it ended up not going as well as I hoped," Noem told the Daily Caller. "I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that Smithfield is owned by China."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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