CCP Linked Entities Hold Properties Adjacent to Military Bases Across the US

Over the past several years, Chinese entities with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have acquired sensitive properties near U.S. military installations, prompting growing concern among national security officials.

In 2022, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)—the government panel that reviews foreign acquisitions of American land or companies for security risks—received a tip that a company called MineOne had purchased land within a mile of Francis E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming. MineOne, majority-owned by Chinese nationals, began converting the 12-acre site into a cryptocurrency-mining facility, triggering a national security review.

That same year, Chinese billionaire Zhong Shanshan purchased 23 acres of industrial land in Nashua, New Hampshire, for $67 million. The property sits near L3Harris Technologies, BAE Systems’ electronic systems division, and less than 30 minutes from New Boston Space Force Station. The transaction bypassed CFIUS review despite its proximity to key defense facilities.

In 2023, Fufeng Group acquired 370 acres about 12 miles from Grand Forks Air Force Base. The company’s chairman, Li Xuechun, a former deputy to the Shandong Province People’s Congress and recognized as a provincial Model Laborer, oversaw the project. At the time, Grand Forks was expanding for future intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance operations. Pentagon objections halted the project, with Fufeng leadership repeatedly emphasizing the CCP’s role in guiding the company.

That year also saw Chinese real estate tycoon Sun Guangxin purchase over 140,000 acres near Laughlin Air Force Base, a U.S. pilot training site. Sun, a former PLA captain and long-time CCP member, is Xinjiang’s wealthiest businessman. His senior advisers are ex-PLA generals, and the land includes a private runway between the base and the U.S.-Mexico border.

Some acquisitions are more opaque, carried out through shell companies and intermediaries. Canadian residents Esther Mei and Cheng Hu, for example, have acquired properties near sensitive bases, including the Knob Noster Trailer Park outside Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, home to the B-2 stealth bomber fleet. Purchased in 2017 through a shell company and later transferred to a Georgia firm they controlled, their acquisitions also include the Pecan Grove Mobile Home Park in Oglethorpe, Georgia, near Robins Air Force Base and Fort Benning.

While some could be dismissed as coincidental, the focus on remote trailer parks near defense sites is unusual and difficult to explain through ordinary market logic. Corporate, legal, and media records also link Mei and Hu to organizations raising concerns about CCP ties, including the New Federal State of China (NFSC), a political movement founded by Miles Guo. Videos and civil lawsuits suggest the couple participated in campaigns against dissidents and human-rights activists.

Mei also served on the board of Urban Select Capital (later Roadman Investments Corp.), an investment firm with offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, and Suzhou Industrial Park. The firm partnered with Chinese state-owned enterprises and invested in public companies tied to the CCP’s state-directed system. Archived records indicate at least four CCP members among its employees and multiple advisers connected to China’s military-civil fusion programs.

In response to similar risks, at least 22 U.S. states have enacted laws restricting foreign land ownership near military installations. Nebraska now blocks purchases by nationals of concern, while Utah restricts entities from China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia. On July 8, 2025, the Trump administration banned Chinese ownership or control of U.S. farmland, citing threats posed by proximity to military sites.

Despite these efforts, Chinese and CCP-linked entities continue to hold these properties, and progress on divestment remains limited. Critics argue that even discussing the national security risks posed by Chinese nationals with PLA or CCP ties is unfairly labeled as discriminatory, slowing further restrictions.

Original Source