Li Shufu shows why Nikki Haley’s evolution on China was necessary
Tom Rogan
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Seeking the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, Nikki Haley has identified China as a key threat to the United States. Haley took a different view as South Carolina governor between 2011-2017.
Haley was challenged on this point earlier this month when a voter asked her, “I saw something on the internet that said you gave China thousands of acres of land in South Carolina. Why would you do that?” Haley responded, “Don’t believe what you read on the internet … We didn’t sell any land to the Chinese. But, yes, I recruited a fiberglass company.” As the Washington Post documented on Wednesday, Haley’s response is inaccurate. The reality is that Haley recruited numerous Chinese investments to her state as governor. Some of these investors had very close links to the ruling Communist Party.
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The contrast with Haley’s stance today is striking.
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed in June, for example, Haley claimed that “Chinese investors have bought nearly 400,000 acres of American land, much of it near military bases. I’ll do everything in my power to prevent China from buying any more land and force it to sell what it already owns.” Haley’s stance aligns with legislation in force since Feb. 2020, which mandates closer Treasury Department supervision of land purchases, leases, or concessions to foreign entities that occur within 99 miles of U.S. military bases and strategic assets such as major seaports.
What changed Haley’s transition from China dove to China hawk?
Haley’s Jan. 2017-Dec. 2018 tenure as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations appears central. In this role, Haley received highly classified briefings on China’s expansive espionage. Shortly after leaving the U.N., she established a group that declared China to be the “biggest foreign threat to America.”
Still, while Haley is now hawkish on China, her South Carolina record was anything but. While numerous Chinese businesses established themselves in South Carolina during Haley’s tenure, Li Shufu stands out. On paper, Li is an impressive businessman. He’s the founder and CEO of Geely, a major Chinese automotive firm that purchased Volvo in 2010. And although Reuters has noted how Li sticks close to Xi Jinping’s rhetoric, Li’s support for Xi’s agenda runs far deeper. There are even unsubstantiated rumors that Li’s wife is a sister to Xi’s wife.
This bears note because in 2015, Volvo invested $500 million in establishing a new plant in Ridgeville, South Carolina. It received $200 million in South Carolina incentives. Haley declared the deal was a “truly a great day in South Carolina as we welcome Volvo Cars’ first American manufacturing plant to our state. Volvo’s presence and commitment to the community will be felt for decades to come.” But while Haley’s noble interest was to create jobs for South Carolinians, she may regret those words now.
After all, Li is no simple businessman. He served as a delegate to the National People’s Congress between 2018-2023 and as a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (which helped formulate the Communist Party’s international political, economic, and public relations strategy). Li is also a figurehead for Xi’s aggressive push toward a more socialist-compliant domestic business class. To People’s Daily state newspaper praise, Li provided Volvo cars in support of last month’s Asian Games in Hangzhou.
At the landmark National People’s Congress in Oct. 2022 (where Xi secured deity-like Communist Party status), Li declared that his company had flourished “Under the care of the party and the state, [and by adopting Xi’s standing directive to] ‘listen to the party’s words and follow the party’s instruction.'” Employing a slogan of Xi’s “Chinese Dream” vision for global domination, Li added that his success was in service of “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”
Li’s plant in Ridgeville is mainly staffed by Americans. Still, Chinese intelligence services revel in employing agents who act without diplomatic cover. Chinese citizens are also expected to serve the Party without question and face personal or familial pressure when they resist doing so. At a minimum, Geely’s control over Volvo gives it a deniable access point for espionage on U.S. soil. Chinese managers, engineers, or others could feasibly be sent free of attention to conduct espionage activities away from the plant. As the Washington Examiner has reported, Chinese intelligence operations on U.S. soil and in U.S. airspace have included drones. And the plant is located within the 2020-enacted 99-mile purchase limit of three major military bases of interest to China.
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Volvo’s plant is approximately 50 crow fly miles from Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, home to four Marine aviation F/A-18 fighter squadrons and an F-35B training squadron. These units would be central to any major war with China. Their tactics, training, and capabilities would be of great interest to the Chinese intelligence services. Shaw Air Force Base is 60 crow fly miles from the plant and is home to dozens of F-16s. In a war with China, these aircraft would be employed in the defense of Okinawa and Taiwan. The plant is also 75 miles from Fort Jackson and is responsible for training many of the Army’s new recruits.
Top line: while the Washington Examiner is not aware of evidence that actors at the Volvo plant are involved in espionage. But the plant’s location is a defining case in point on why U.S. government restrictions on Chinese land purchases are increasing.