Gov. Spencer Cox (R-UT) on Tuesday announced that Utah blocked a land sale to a company he said is linked to the Chinese military.
The governor said the state blocked the sale near the Provo airport after it was discovered that the purchasing company, a defense manufacturing company, was linked to the Chinese government. The company, Cirrus Aircraft, is majority-owned by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China.
“Utah is reaffirming a strong message that it’s been sending for several years: We will not allow adversarial foreign entities to buy up strategic land in our state,” Cox said Tuesday. “The proposed investment was millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs. I don’t care. We are not for sale.”
Cox said AVIC manufactures fighter jets, helicopters, and drones for the People’s Liberation Army, the Chinese military.
A recently-passed Utah law prohibits countries on the restricted foreign entities list from purchasing land or property in the state. Republican state Rep. Candice Pierucci, who worked to get the law through the state legislature, hailed the governor’s announcement.
“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 Salt Lake City.
China owns a significant amount of farmland and most of it is concentrated in Texas, North Carolina, Missouri, Utah, and Florida, according to the Department of Agriculture. As of 2023, Chinese firms and investors owned 277,336 acres of agricultural land throughout the country and 33,035 acres in Utah.
“From a national security standpoint, this effort is crucial,” Cox said. “Some of the most important military missions and testing activities in the Department of Defense are conducted right here in Utah, and some of those missions can only happen here.”
Still, the USDA report shows Chinese ownership represents just a small fraction of all foreign-held farmland in the U.S.
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During the press conference, Cox criticized the Chinese government for restricting The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ operations in Beijing. Last month, the Chinese government banned Mormon church activities in the country.
“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,” he said. “Not for land deals, not for trade, not for diplomacy.”