Burgum calls for security review of Chinese firm's project
BISMARCK, N.D, (AP) — Gov. Doug Burgum is pressing federal officials to expedite a review of a Chinese company’s purchase of land in North Dakota for a wet corn milling plant to ensure it is not detrimental to national security.
Fufeng Group’s planned $700 million project in Grand Forks has stirred some opponents to raise fears of espionage due to its proximity to a U.S. Air Force base.
“Our top priority is, and always will be, the safety and security of our citizens and our nation,” Burgum, a Republican, said in a letter Monday to U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, calling for an expedited review of the project by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
“We ask that this review process be completed with the utmost urgency to aid Grand Forks officials in their decision-making process and provide clarity on whether this land purchase has national security implications,” Burgum’s letter said.
The agency told The Associated Press that it does not publicly comment on its reviews.
City Administrator Todd Feland said the company, which is privately owned, voluntarily submitted a formal request Monday to have federal officials review the project.
‘They weren’t required to, but they did," Feland said.
The city and the company continue to be 100% behind the project, even with growing opposition and suspicion toward it, he said.
“I think we're caught into this nationwide rhetoric about concerns about the Chinese and what they may be doing, and we've become a symbol of that,” Feland said.
City Council meetings have turned ugly in recent weeks, with people becoming “angry, loud and vile,” he said.
The issue has drawn people to the meetings from far outside the city and...