Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis confirmed at a press conference on Tuesday that he supports banning China from owning property in Florida.
While at a press conference announcing his project to restore Florida’s everglades, DeSantis confirmed that the state legislature “has an appetite” to ban Chinese Communist Party (CCP) influence in the state, including Chinese purchases of Florida’s residential properties.
“My view on the economy in Florida is that we don’t want to have holdings by hostile nations,” DeSantis said. “The legislature only went so far a couple of years ago. I think there’s an appetite to do even more, because [the CCP’s] influence in our society has been very insidious.”
Gov. DeSantis Unveils the Future of Conservation in Florida https://t.co/NojvKw7MZH
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) January 10, 2023
In Sept. 2022, he signed an executive order barring government entities from procuring products or services from technology companies owned or controlled by the CCP, and in June, 2021, he signed two bills barring the CCP from committing “espionage and commercial theft” through Florida’s education system.
The governor told the press Tuesday he also hopes to ban the CCP from funding research at Florida universities or purchasing farmland or residential properties in the state because “we do not need to have CCP influence in Florida’s economy.”
“When [the CCP has] interests that are opposed to ours and you see how they’ve wielded their authority — and especially with President Xi, who’s taken a much more Marxist Leninist turn since he’s been ruling China — that is not in the best interest of Florida to have the Chinese Communist Party owning farmland, owning land close to military bases,” DeSantis said. “Why would you want them buying residential developments or things like that? I don’t want them owning subdivisions.”
The Florida state legislature will have to structure the bills to “effectively police” the issue of the CCP using neutral holding companies to bypass bans on Chinese property owners in Florida, DeSantis noted. He also told the press that “disentangling from China” is essential in Florida and nationwide. (RELATED: Liberal Media Cried Wolf Over Trump But Now Their Real Bogeyman Is Rising)
“From the broader U.S. economy, we’re way too intertwined with China economically. It hurts us and hurts our economic vitality. It hurts our security,” DeSantis said. “Why would you want to rely on a hostile nation for things that are integral to our quality of life and security? Of course, you wouldn’t want to do that, but this has been going on for many, many decades. So, disentangling from China, I think, is something that’s very significant going forward.”