PALMYRA, Utah — At a news conference on a fifth generation family farm here, Governor Spencer Cox criticized the Chinese government and companies linked to it for trying to purchase farmland and other properties across the state.
"We will not allow adversarial foreign entities to buy up strategic land in our state," the governor told reporters on Tuesday.
The governor said recently, a land sale near the Provo airport was blocked after it was discovered the purchasing company — which manufactures jets, drones and other aircraft — was linked to the Chinese government. That would be in violation of a Utah law that prohibits nations on a restricted foreign entities list from purchasing properties in Utah.
"The proposed investment was millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs. I don’t care. We are not for sale," Gov. Cox said.
The law was passed by Rep. Candice Pierucci, R-Herriman.
"It’s exciting to see we stopped the transaction from happening right by the Provo airport and that’s a direct result of the law," she told FOX 13 News.
Rep. Pierucci has passed legislation that also requires lands linked to these "adversarial foreign nations" to divest the properties they already do own. She said more than 35,000 acres of land had been identified and divested as a result of the laws. Other bills passed by the legislature include blocking the purchase of lands near military installations and even blocking food delivery drivers from dropping of meals at secure sites in the name of national security.
WATCH: CEO explains how his company helps protect intellectual property from being stolen by China, others
"Utah sits at the nexus of national security with all of the entities we have," Cooper Wimmer, executive vice-president of Strider Technologies, a data and intelligence firm that works in Utah, told FOX 13 News. "The Proving Ground, 19th Special Forces group, 47G, we've got the 300th intel unit here, NSA Utah, Hill Air Force Base — so there’s all this critical military infrastructure here and we’re a welcoming place so it makes it really ripe for foreign influence to try and come in this area."
Wimmer praised Utah lawmakers for their efforts to address the issue that he said many states are grappling with, with foreign governments purchasing land and exercising "soft power" influence in local school districts and universities.
But China is also a trade partner on some things with Utah. Asked by FOX 13 News if his statements would impact that, Gov. Cox had a message for the Chinese government.
"My message is we want to be partners with you, but until you start acting the way that allies do and should act? That’s an impossibility. The impetus is on them, the weight is on them to change the way they’re doing business," he said.
The Chinese consulate in Los Angeles, which oversees Utah, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment abut the governor's remarks on Tuesday.
Gov. Cox also criticized the Chinese government for restricting The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' operations in Beijing.
"It’s clear what China is attempting to do here. They’re using the right to worship as leverage. This is personal for us. Utah’s own story is rooted in the right to worship. Religious liberty is not a bargaining chip. Not for land deals, not for trade, not for diplomacy," he said.
Rep. Pierucci said she was crafting new legislation to address other issues related to adversarial foreign governments, including banning certain Chinese-made technologies related to infrastructure.
"Obviously water is a critical resource so that’s something we’re going to do an assessment on the vulnerabilities that we have in our water system," she said.
