State Rep. Joe Harding: ‘China is Not our Friend’
August 4, 2022 Updated 12:04 P.M. ET
TALLAHASSEE (FLV) – Republican Florida State Rep. Joe Harding, FL-22, slammed American companies for being “in bed” with the Chinese Communist Party, calling them a “Trojan Horse” and a “direct threat to our Republic.”
“American based companies that are in bed with the evil Communist Chinese Cartel are a Trojan Horse and are a direct threat to our Republic,” Harding said. “China is not our friend. #WakeUp.”
The comments come as Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody amped up anti-CCP rhetoric in regards to land buyouts in Florida and the United States.
In an interview with Fox’s “The Ingraham Angle,” DeSantis said that China should be barred from buying up American and specifically, Floridian, real estate.
“I don’t think they should be able to do it,” he said. “I think the problem is these companies have ties to the CCP, and it’s not always apparent on the face of whatever a company is doing — but I think it’s a huge problem.”
In June, DeSantis signed laws that targeted the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) influence in the state’s businesses and schools. The new laws increased penalties for corporate espionage for foreign regimes/companies and banned ‘Confucius Institutes,’ which are funded by China, off of Florida college campuses.
“We’re also probably going to do legislation next legislative session about our pension investments, with things that may be linked to the CCP. We don’t necessarily have a lot of it, but we want to make sure that we’re cutting ties so that we’re not funding our number-one adversary,” DeSantis continued.
Moody also called for restrictions, saying, “And when you’re looking at the type of land being bought, you know, I think what presents a challenge is is this in a military strategic area, is this farmland that we’re relying on for a domestic food supply in our security?”
“There’s no doubt we are in a deadly strategic war with China. The only problem is they’re the only ones playing offense and defense. Sometimes I wonder if our leaders are paying attention.”
Moody said that a large amount of fentanyl, the number one cause of death of military-aged American men, comes directly from China, which she says is the reason she called on President Joe Biden to declare the drug a weapon of mass destruction.
“I know there are security risk there and we know that they are gobbling up our land … There’s not doubt that we are vulnerable and we need someone to pay attention to this,” she went on.
In late 2021, DeSantis railed against Chinese influence in Florida, calling out corporations’ “groveling apologies” when faced with CCP opposition.
“Go back a generation, and the idea of the American elites was, ‘If we allow China into the WTO and give them the most favored nation status, that will make China more like us.’ This experiment has failed and it has endangered our nation’s national and economic security.”
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