By Brit McCandless Farmer

October 12, 2025 / 7:31 PM EDT / CBS News

Chinese entities have been acquiring land in key locations near U.S. military bases, sparking national security concerns about possible spying — or even a potential attack.

Former national security official David Feith laid out the potential risk in an interview with 60 Minutes. Feith worked on U.S.-China policy for the State Department in the first Trump administration, and until April, worked in Trump's second administration on the National Security Council. While there, he grew increasingly alarmed by where China owns America's farmland.

"The ability to own large tracts of land, especially close to sensitive U.S. military and government facilities, can pose an enormous problem given the nature of technology today, which is that hostile actor from all across the world can very easily exploit access to land, access to buildings and warehouses, access just to a shipping container or two and do enormous damage, either in intelligence terms or in military terms," Feith told 60 Minutes.

China's capacity to hack the U.S. is growing, former NSA head says. Here's what they're targeting and why.

Feith cited Ukraine's recent drone attack in Russia as an example. In June, the Ukrainian military attacked Russian nuclear-capable bombers with remotely operated drones it had smuggled into the country.

For China, Feith explained, owning farmland in the United States gives America's geopolitical rival more operating room for potential strikes.

"It's an entirely new way of war," he cautioned.

This fear is why, in 2023, North Dakota politicians blocked a Chinese company from building a corn mill near an Air Force base in Grand Forks. At the time, the company denied it would use the mill to spy on or harm the U.S.

China isn't the only nation buying American farmland. According to the most recent data available from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, non-Americans own about 45 million acres — or about 3 and a half percent — of agricultural land in the U.S. That's up about 70 percent from a decade earlier. Canadians own about a third of that, while Chinese nationals own just under 1 percent, at 277,336 acres.

It may be a small percentage, but it is enough to grab the attention of politicians. There's no federal law stopping foreigners from buying American farmland, but 29 states now limit it or ban it altogether, according to the most recent data from the National Agricultural Law Center.

As part of a seven-point national security plan, the Trump Agriculture Department this summer announced it will increase transparency around foreign ownership of farmland, impose harsher penalties for false reporting, and collaborate with Congress and state governments to stop adversarial countries like China from buying more land in the future.

Beyond the farm, Feith says there is growing concern from Chinese-backed cryptocurrency mining operations in the United States. Crypto mines, as they are known, are giant data centers where powerful computers solve complex mathematical problems to validate transactions with cryptocurrency. Feith believes they could be used for espionage or to sabotage the electric grid.

"They're effectively enormous and enormously powerful data centers," Feith said. "The first threat they pose is for intelligence collection. And the second threat is that they can sabotage the power grid because they draw so much power."

Feith said the location of crypto mines also makes them a risk.

In one example, President Biden in May 2024 ordered a Chinese-backed firm to sell a property in Cheyenne, Wyoming and dismantle its cryptocurrency mining operation there. The decision was based on national security concerns; the site is located near Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, which houses intercontinental ballistic missiles.

"The fact that these mines, these large, powerful data centers, are so often located near sensitive U.S. military facilities underscores why this would be a potential catastrophe in crisis or conflict with China," Feith said.

Because Chinese law requires corporations to cooperate with the government, Feith said it is not enough for a Chinese company in the U.S. to claim independence as a private enterprise. If the Xi administration requests, Chinese companies are obligated to share data and assist in intelligence work, even if the company is based abroad.

The potential risk of Chinese companies buying farmland and building crypto mines near military facilities in the United States is clear, according to Feith.

"In the view of U.S. intelligence officials and government leaders now for years, China is preparing to be able to fight and defeat the United States military in a war," he said.

The video above was produced by Brit McCandless Farmer and edited by Scott Rosann.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5504397&forum_id=2)#49346635)