Gov. Sarah Sanders introduces legislative plan to ‘defend’ Arkansas from China
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced new legislation that’s being dubbed as the “Communist China Defense legislative package.”
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — On Wednesday, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced new legislation that’s being dubbed as the “Communist China Defense legislative package.”
According to the governor, this legislation will strip state resources from the Chinese Community Party (CCP) and will ban the purchasing of land around critical infrastructure such as military bases and electric substations by “foreign adversaries.”
“Once I sign this legislation into law, Chinese Communist Party-linked companies will be banned from owning property near critical infrastructure and lobbying on behalf of Communist China, Russia, and other foreign adversaries will no longer be allowed in the state of Arkansas,” Gov. Sanders said at her press conference on Wednesday.
The legislation is being spearheaded by several Republican lawmakers, with the lead sponsors being comprised of the following: Sen. Blake Johnson (District 21), Rep. DeAnn Vaught (District 87), Rep. Britt McKenzie (District 7), Rep. Mindy McAlindon (District 10), and Rep. Howard M. Beaty, Jr. (District 95).
As for the specifics of the legislation, Sanders stated that the legislative package will work to expand prohibitions on property owned by CCP-linked companies.
These prohibitions will work by “preventing those companies from leasing property, owning property near critical infrastructure, and shortening the amount of time a banned company has to divest,” according to Gov. Sanders.
Additionally, the legislation explicitly points to a ban on lobbying that’s done in the benefit of the CCP, Russia, and what lawmakers continued to refer to as “other foreign adversaries.”
“Municipalities will no longer be allowed to have from a sister city in Communist China. The State will withhold funding from colleges and universities that have a Confucius Institute or similar institute related to the People’s Republic of China, including Chinese cultural centers, and prohibit state-sponsored colleges and universities and entities from investing in Communist China. State agencies will be barred from spending public funds to purchase promotional items made in China,” the governor said in a press release.