The Latest
Biden-Harris Admin Opposes Ban On CCP Buying US Land

White House Opposes Ban On CCP Buying U.S. Land

byAnastasia Boushee
September 24, 2024

The Biden-Harris administration has officially expressed opposition to a bill that would ban Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials from buying American land if they are trying to violate Hong Kong’s autonomy, increase aggression aimed at Taiwan, or have contributed to human rights violations.

The White House sent out a press release declaring opposition to HR 3334, otherwise known as the “Stop CCP Act” — noting that the bill “would impose mandatory sanctions and visa restrictions on members of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party,” and “would thus require sanctions and visa restrictions against a broad swath of PRC leadership.”

While the Biden-Harris administration claimed in the statement that it had “deep concerns” about the Chinese Communist Party’s human rights violations and Chinese aggression, they claimed to be opposed to the bill because it would “undermine” the administration’s efforts to work with China. They also claimed that there were already ways to punish China for “wrongdoing,” and thus barring them from buying American land is wrong.

“The Administration has multiple authorities to impose sanctions for wrongdoing by PRC actors,” the press release read. “This bill, however, would make the imposition of sanctions and visa restrictions mandatory against an entire tier of PRC leadership. The legislation’s mandatory sanctions against PRC leadership would likely cut off any channels of communication between our two governments and undermine the Administration’s efforts to build diplomatic consensus on China, thereby destabilizing U.S.-PRC relations and undermining U.S. national interests while having virtually no discernible impact on the PRC’s approach to human rights or Taiwan.”

The STOP CCP Act is designed to impose “sanctions on members of the National Communist Party Congress of the People’s Republic of China” who have been found to have engaged in “sanctionable conduct.”

The bill describes “sanctionable conduct” as violating “the autonomy of Hong Kong,” increasing “aggression towards the people of Taiwan,” or politically oppressing or violating the human rights of “individuals or societal groups within the People’s Republic of China, including Uyghur Muslims.”

The measure also provides a process for the U.S. president to terminate sanctions on Chinese Communist Party officials if communist China has “ceased the genocide of the Uyghur Muslim population,” “ceased all forms of threats, military exercises, and aggression toward Taiwan,” “ceased the undermining of the autonomy of Hong Kong,” and “ceased efforts to steal the intellectual property of United States persons.”

Meanwhile, reports indicate that China-linked entities own nearly 400,000 acres of American farmland, including in areas located near U.S. military sites and other sensitive areas.

Former President Donald Trump has vowed to prohibit China from buying American land in his second term.

Author
Anastasia Boushee
Related Posts