A Chinese Billionaire Stealthily Bought Up Land in the US. He is Now The Second-Largest Foreign Owner of US Land.

Hi Global Recap readers,

Today’s in-depth story is either a nothing burger or a huge red flag - literally.

But before deciding on that, I have some news to celebrate:

Taiwan has just elected a new president who, thankfully, wouldn’t touch China with a ten-foot pole.

🌐 Around the world:

• 🎉 Taiwan’s new president elected.

• 🇨🇳 CCP uses money against Taiwan.

• 🥶 Putin freezes inmates to force them to fight.

• 🎥 Hamas releases a video of hostages.

• 🇨🇳 A Chinese billionaire stealthily bought up land in the US. He is now the second-largest foreign owner of US land.

Let’s get into today’s news.

🎉 Taiwan’s New President

Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) snagged a historic third term, leaving China in the dust.

• Concession: The opposition party, Kuomintang (KMT), had to swallow the bitter pill of defeat and concede to the DPP’s Lai Ching-te, who clinched a comfortable victory.

• Vote Count: DDP won 40.1%, KMT won 33.5%, and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) won 26.5% of the votes.

• Historic Win: The DPP portrayed the election as a battle between democracy and authoritarianism, citing the KMT’s pursuit of closer ties with the CCP, in contrast to the DPP’s stance that Taiwan should maintain a significant distance from China.

The situation is tense in the region as the world watches China’s next move.

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🇨🇳 China Uses Money Against Taiwan

Taiwan’s diplomatic relations with Nauru ended abruptly, with China cutting in.

Just as Taiwan celebrated a smooth election, Nauru switched partners, leaving Taipei one ally short.

• Election Aftermath: Newly-elected President Lai Ching-te faces China’s pressure tactics.

• Dollar Diplomacy: China allegedly offered Nauru $100 million a year to make the switch.

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🥶 Putin’s Desperate Plan

Putin, in a desperate bid to replenish Russian forces in Ukraine, has allegedly turned Russian prisons into iceboxes.

How? By ordering prisons to turn off the heating.

• Goal: To drive inmates to enlist for war as temperatures nosedive.

• Dire Straits: Temperatures plunged to -55°C (-67°F).

• Women: Ukraine is claiming that Russia is not recruiting female convicts, as the supply of male prisoners dried up.

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🎥 Hamas Releases Video of Hostages

On Sunday, Hamas released a chilling propaganda video, showcasing three Israeli captives pleading for their lives.

The terrorist group teased viewers, saying:

• Noa: One of the hostages in the video is the now-infamous Noa Argamani.

Then on Monday, Hamas released another video showing two other male hostages dead - claiming they were killed by an Israeli airstrike.

• Israel: Israel vehemently denied this, saying this is a “lie” to have people turn against the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

• Lies: One person in the comments pointed out that the men do not look like they were killed in an airstrike; judging by what looks like a recently-created strangulation mark on the neck of one of them.

WARNING: This video is extremely graphic.

United States

A Chinese Billionaire Stealthily Bought Up Land in the US. He is Now The Second-Largest Foreign Owner of US Land.

🌲 Timberland Tension Rises! A Chinese billionaire’s acquisition of a vast expanse of Oregon timberland in the US has recently come to light, stirring controversy among lawmakers.

🔎 Who is He? Chen Tianqio, aged 50, holds membership in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He is known to have held leadership positions within organizations connected to the CCP and expresses admiration for Chairman Mao, the founder of the CCP.

• He even quoted his favorite saying by Mao Zedong in an interview with Chinese state media:

• Chen is now based in California.

💰 Founder. He is primarily known for founding the Shanda Group, a global investment firm.

• The company was established in 1999 as Shanda Interactive Entertainment Limited, an online gaming company.

• Then by 2004, it became the largest Internet company in China.

• Shanda later expanded its operations into investments.

🚨 Why It Matters. News of Chen Tianqiao’s purchase of 198,000 acres of Oregon timberland in 2015 has gone largely unreported for eight years, raising alarms over foreign investment oversight.

• This makes him the second-largest foreign owner of American land - just behind the Irving family of Canada.

📜 Scrutiny. Whatever the reason for Chen’s purchasing of the land, what’s most troubling is the fact that his landholdings in official US records are absent. His ownership of the land in question only came to light recently when the Oregon tax records revealed it.

👨‍⚖️ Law Broken? The 1978 Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act (AFIDA) obliges foreign investors to inform the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) about new American agricultural land interests within 90 days of the deal.

• It is not clear why Chen’s records are missing.

• Yet, Micah Rubin from the National Agricultural Law Center suggests that certain “ambiguities” in the law might exempt some foreign purchases from this reporting rule.

🌐 Global Land Grabs. In just ten years, Chinese companies have escalated their US farmland holdings from a modest $162 million to a staggering $2 billion, as per recent USDA data.

🏛️ Policy Implications. The case underscores the need for updated regulations and stricter enforcement to safeguard US agricultural land from foreign adversaries.

🤔 Forethought. Is this just an innocent investment activity of a foreign national? Or are there nefarious intentions behind it? The problem is… we don’t know.