House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) has launched an investigation into the Biden administration's use of a Department of Defense land-use program, alleging it facilitated land deals near U.S. military installations with nonprofit organizations linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The inquiry raises fresh concerns about national security vulnerabilities amid growing bipartisan unease over China’s influence in American infrastructure and land ownership.
At the center of Comer’s probe is the Pentagon’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration Program (REPI), a decades-old initiative designed to preserve land around military bases to ensure operational readiness and buffer zones for training exercises. Through REPI, the Department of Defense partners with local governments and nonprofit organizations to acquire conservation easements—legal agreements that restrict development on certain parcels of land, typically to prevent encroachment on military activity.
However, Comer argues that under the Biden administration, REPI may have inadvertently enabled organizations with ties to China to gain access to sensitive areas adjacent to military sites. In a letter sent Thursday to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Comer expressed concern that the Pentagon had failed to conduct adequate vetting of REPI partners and their foreign affiliations.
“The Committee is investigating the Biden Administration’s use of REPI to facilitate the sale of land easements adjacent to military bases to nonprofits with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) under the pretense of conservation,” Comer wrote.
One organization in the spotlight is The Nature Conservancy (TNC), a global environmental nonprofit that has worked with REPI on numerous conservation projects. Though widely respected in environmental circles, TNC has maintained a significant presence in China for over three decades, with key staff and board members reportedly having former roles in Chinese government agencies and Communist Party-linked institutions.
According to Comer’s letter, individuals affiliated with TNC’s China program have previously worked for the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the United Front Work Department (a CCP influence arm), and China’s Ministries of Ecology, Science and Technology. Some of these individuals have also contributed to People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the CCP.
While TNC controls an estimated $10 billion in assets and has received substantial U.S. government funding over the years, Comer says its Chinese connections raise troubling questions.
“Given these ties, there is a legitimate concern about the potential for foreign influence or intelligence gathering near sensitive military installations,” he stated.
The letter also names Rio Tinto, a mining giant, and Rayonier, a timber company, as other REPI partners with business operations or affiliations in China. Though the letter does not directly accuse these companies of wrongdoing, it underscores growing scrutiny over any foreign involvement—direct or indirect—near military assets.
Comer’s request to the Pentagon includes a briefing on how the Department assesses and mitigates foreign threats through REPI, as well as an evaluation of national security risks associated with current land-use agreements.
This investigation comes against the backdrop of increasing legislative attention to China’s land purchases in the U.S. Though Chinese ownership of U.S. farmland remains relatively small—just under 1% of total foreign-held land—it has grown rapidly in recent years. A U.S. Department of Agriculture report found that Chinese ownership of American farmland increased by 30% from 2019 to 2020 alone.
Concerns are compounded by recent reports that Chinese nationals attempted to breach U.S. military bases more than 100 times, as revealed by a 2023 Wall Street Journal investigation. In some cases, land owned by Chinese entities is located in close proximity to at least 19 U.S. military sites, according to the New York Post.
Legislators on both sides of the aisle have proposed bills to restrict foreign ownership of American land near critical infrastructure. Some of these efforts have gained traction, fueled by mounting evidence of Chinese influence across universities, corporate boardrooms, and even political institutions.
Comer has previously led investigations into the CCP’s political warfare efforts and has been critical of what he sees as a lackluster response from the Biden administration. He argues that federal agencies have not developed clear strategies to counter China’s multi-pronged campaign of influence within the U.S.
.jpg)
.jpg)
