The Chinese are buying our land. Do you have a problem with this?

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014...and-across-america-and-zillow-now-enabling-it

Chinese corporations are buying US land. It should matter that many of these corporations have been nationalized and are for all intents and purposes property of the Chinese Government... which makes the land they buy in the US for all intents and purposes property of the Chinese Government.

Most likely, other nations are using similar means to buy our nation out from under us, China is merely at the head of the game.

This seems problematic for our territorial sovereignty... what say you?

 

It didn't work out to well for Japan when they did the same thing.

 

I'm not familiar. Can you provide some additional context so I can look it up?

 

Your article is almost 5 years old???Now history.

 

They really liked golf courses.

http://articles.latimes.com/1992-02-21/business/fi-2537_1_japanese-real-estate

 

That seems like a different thing. Looks to me like the Japanese were interested in making money. It seems like the Chinese are more interested in monopolizing resource and consolidating power.

 

China buys US debt.

If the US does not like China owning US debt, then the US should not run it up.

 

I’d say the Chinese are also in it to make money, not some nefarious plot. That said, I have massive reservations on them purchasing home properties.

If a successful Chinese business decides to buy or build an office in the states that’s one thing. But controlling residential real estate and rental properties bothers me. Especially with some provisions of the TPP leaking into the supposed NAFTA renegotiation.

 

Would you not consider their motives to control residential real estate and rental properties a nefarious plot?

 

No, when the Chinese building slowed they looked elsewhere to acquire property. I am just of the opinion that some things are best kept in house.

 

They can't bring that land to China, also that land is all taxable and is required to follow U.S. law. Not a big deal, but it does reduce the chance of war, since they don't want their own financial interests to be ruined.

 

During the Japanese boom of the 80s, and subsequent there was something of a moral panic that the Japanese were "buying up" everything valuable in the U.S. See the good old 80s movie "Die Hard" for one of many examples, set in the "Nakatomi Plaza" showing how the fears (or ironic satire of the fears) worked their way into pop culture.

IMO it's a great thing the Chinese are investing in U.S. real estate and generally other than buying our debt. The more vested interest powerful Chinese interests have in our country's well-being the better. It's also a vote of confidence for any international money to invest here instead of in their own countries. Wouldn't start worrying about it until you can't get forks, only chopsticks, at McDonalds.

 

They're not technically buying land. What they're doing is investing in real estate. None of us really "own" our land. If we did, we wouldn't have to pay taxes on it or put up with all the various zoning ordinances if we want to do anything.

Is it good? Not really, but only because most people are dumb as dirt. They invest in land which drives real estate prices up, and that forces lower income people to either react normally and find somewhere else to live, or they just move onto the street and then complain about how the city should help them live in a place they can''t afford to live in. Hell, the Chinese are probably looking around at all those lazy homeless gweilos and thinking that maybe they should have invested someplace else.

 

I don't like it.

I'm not really opposed to foreigners buying US real estate in general, but some reciprocity is called for. Americans should have the same rights to buy real estate in China. Right now, you can only buy land usage rights in China...so they should face the same restriction here.

 

Many countries such as Mexico do that. It''s mostly to keep real estate prices within reach of locals.

 

Too bad we don't care about the "locals."

 

I don’t really see a problem with it. “Owning” land in the US is basically just a transferable indefinite lease from the state/locality that land is in. If they don’t pay the annual tax it will be repossessed and sold to the highest bidder with no reimbursement to them. If any major hostility between China and US was to occur the federal govt would seize any assets owned by Chinese in the US.

I might be wrong but would seem to me them buying land here would be a good sign. That they consider it a good investment and don’t have plans for major hostilities with the US in near future.