January 23, 2025
Chinese Communist Party Land Ownership is a Threat to New Jersey’s Critical Infrastructure
WHAT IS CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE?
Critical infrastructure is any asset that, if incapacitated, would have a debilitating effect on national security, economic security, or public health. Examples include gas and oil pipelines, electrical power grids, military installations, telecommunications facilities, and public transportation systems.
WHAT CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE EXISTS IN NEW JERSEY?
New Jersey hosts two significant military installations. Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JB MDL) is the only United States base that combines facilities from three military branches: McGuire Air Force Base (Air Force), Fort Dix (Army), and Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst (Navy). New Jersey is also home to Picatinny Arsenal, which serves as the headquarters of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Armaments Center, focusing on weapons technology development, munitions production, and armor systems engineering.
WHY SHOULD NEW JERSEYANS CARE ABOUT CCP LAND OWNERSHIP?
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) acquisition of land is accelerating across the U.S. Acquisition of strategic land near military bases enables surveillance and sabotage of our Armed Forces, and acquisition of land near critical infrastructure exposes vulnerable sites—power, natural gas, petroleum, and water treatment facilities—to physical assault. In 2023, a CCP spy balloon traversed the entire continental United States, including over our most sensitive military bases. According to U.S. Air Force Major Jeremy Fox, land near military bases may be used for espionage, including intercepting military communications between unmanned air systems and space-based assets. If left open to CCP control, our real property provides nearly limitless platforms for “permanent spy balloons.”
WHAT CAN NEW JERSEY DO TO PROTECT ITS CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE?
New Jersey should ban foreign adversaries from owning or otherwise controlling property within a close radius surrounding a military installation. It should also ensure that all companies with access to critical infrastructure conduct background checks on employees with significant access to that infrastructure. Finally, it should require the flagging of undeclared transactions, limiting the number of undeclared transactions that can lead to foreign ownership of land near strategic U.S. land/infrastructure.