Texas Lawmakers Seek To Stop A Chinese Subsidiary From Building Windmills Near An Air Force Base

An effort to stop China from buying land in Texas leads to a bill in Washington D.C. Recent reportsdetailed the effort by state lawmakers to stop the sale of land to a Chinese subsidiary for a windmill farm only 70 miles from a U.S. Air Force Base.

In April, the state Senate passed a bill, which banned businesses backed by hostile nations, like China and Iran, from seeking infrastructure contracts in the state. Shortly after, a Texas congressman introduced a bill in Washington to stop countries from buying land within 100 miles of military installations and 50 miles from military areas.

“What is happening is, we’ve got, you know, folks that are associated with the Chinese [Communist] Party in our backyard — in Val Verde County,” Rep. Tony Gonzalez (R-Texas) said. “And this bill gets to the heart of that.”

Texas lawmakers had warned that ties between the subsidiary’s founder — a former military officer turned business mogul — and the Chinese Communist Party have raised concerns over the safety of state infrastructure.