Cnano USA pushes back against Kansas leaders' claims it's tied to Chinese Communist Party

The president of Cnano USA pushed back against claims from U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner, R-Kansas, and Attorney General Kris Kobach that his company is a potential national security risk.

In January, LaTurner asked the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to investigate Cnano USA over alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Kobach cited the company as a potentially dangerous entity when he called for restricting the ability of noncitizens to purchase more than 10 acres of land in Senate Bill 446.

Cnano’s parent company is based in China, but Cnano USA’s president Shawn Montgomery said the U.S. branch is largely independent.

“The only obligation I have to the China parent entity is monthly financial reports to share with investors,” said Montgomery, who was testifying before the Kansas House Commerce, Labor and Economic Development Committee.

Montgomery’s testimony didn’t assuage LaTurner's concerns. He said there's still evidence the company is linked to top Chinese officials.

“Cnano USA's testimony failed to adequately address the overwhelming evidence that ties their parent company, Cnano Jiangsu, to President Xi, the CCP, and Chinese intelligence services,” LaTurner said.

Rep. Patrick Penn, R-Wichita, brought up the ties to the CCP during the committee hearing, noting that the Chinese parent company employed more than 20 CCP members and that it participated in a CCP-backed initiative meant to stimulate growth in emerging technologies.

Montgomery said the participation in the program happened more than a decade ago and consisted of selling carbon nanotubes to a university in Shanghai. He also pointed out that Walmart and Ford have Chinese subsidiaries that employ CCP members.

Montgomery testified in a hearing on House Bill 2766, which bars individuals or companies from “countries of concern” from owning nonresidential land within 150 miles of a military installation. That buffer zone would make it impossible for a noncitizen to own land in most of Kansas.

The countries of concern in the bill are China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela.

The restriction in the bill is more stringent than what other states have enacted when restricting foreign land ownership. Florida and Missouri restrict foreign land acquisitions within 10 miles of military installations, and Montana doesn’t allow it within a direct line of sight to a military installation.

Kobach gave neutral testimony to the bill, raising concerns about how limiting it to adversarial countries could open up the state for legal challenges, that shell companies could circumvent the regulation and that the bill wouldn’t allow his office to target cartel-owned land.

Large agricultural lobbies opposed the bill, calling it an infringement on private property rights that doesn’t address corporate consolidation of Kansas farmland. They also pointed to existing laws that bar corporate entities from owning agricultural land in the state.

“No. 1, the CCP is not actively buying farmland in Kansas. The data says that what we can find is half an acre that’s owned in Kansas,” said John Donley, a lobbyist with the Kansas Farm Bureau.

Rep. Rui Xu, D-Westwood, noted that the bill is broad enough that it could ban a Chinese immigrant from opening a restaurant in the state. Other committee members questioned whether Kansas should be tackling issues of national security.

“I know a lot of the people in this building. I don’t know if they’re fully qualified to handle the nuance and the complexity of international geopolitical disagreements.," said Rep. Jason Probst, D-Hutchinson. "So I wonder why in the Kansas Legislature we’re having a conversation about doing just that, when I’m not sure we’re particularly qualified for that.”

Senate Bill 446 is also aimed at blocking foreign land ownership. That version only applies to parcels over 10 acres, applies to all foreign countries and creates a land council to approve purchases.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Cnano USA objects to Kansas leaders' claims it's beholden to China