Tennessee’s agricultural heritage is part of the foundation of our state, and indeed, farmers remain the backbone of Tennessee’s economy. It is my solemn promise that as Tennessee’s next governor, I will continue supporting the values and traditions that have made our agricultural communities strong for generations. That means standing up to outside international actors like the Chinese Communist Party and preventing them from purchasing our farmland.
One American farmer feeds roughly 165 people. That abundance and productivity allow us to maintain a safe, affordable, and abundant food supply in this country. And of those American farmers, Tennessee farmers and ranchers produce some of the safest and highest-quality food products in the world. Every day, our farmers work hard to keep food on our tables and our economy moving forward. Tennessee farmers help ensure America’s food security, which is critical to our national security. Of course, China wants to undermine both. That is why we can never allow them a foothold in Tennessee.
Our foreign adversaries, especially Communist China, are threatened by our agricultural dominance and will do anything they can to undermine and undercut our farmers.
Beijing is working overtime trying to buy our land. Now is the time to stop them. Indeed, our state has taken significant steps to crack down and fight back to ensure Communist China never gets a foothold in the Volunteer State. They have significantly restricted the ability of citizens, entities, or agents of nations under national security regulations and certain federal sanctions to hold Tennessee land. But there is more to do to close every last loophole.
As governor, I’ll crack down even harder and lower the threshold so companies with Chinese interests can’t own our Tennessee land. I’ll increase the scrutiny and chase down every thread to ensure CCP companies that are in partnerships with U.S. companies or funds can’t get a foothold.
The assault on our farmland is more than just a threat to our economy; it is a threat to our national security. Each acre that our foreign adversaries can get a hold of is another chance for them to undermine our food security, surveil Americans, and sabotage our safety. The Chinese regularly try and purchase land next to our critical infrastructure, like nuclear power stations or near our military installations.
It is not enough for them to try to disrupt our economy; they want to destabilize our nation, destroy our families, and ruin our American way of life. Enough is enough.
But it isn’t just our land they are after. When it comes to electric vehicles and battery manufacturing, China is chomping at the bit to get a foothold here, and we can never allow that to happen. And we need to shut down their propaganda machines by stopping Confucius classrooms and ending so-called Chinese “sister cities.”
Tennessee should be America’s conservative leader – and one of the places that we can lead is in showing the rest of America how to stand up to and confront Communist China.
Throughout my time in public office, I have seen China for exactly what they are: our adversary, not an ally. In the Senate, I have fought alongside President Trump to stop Communist China on every front. We have worked to make certain that the CCP and Chinese state-backed corporate interests stay off our land. From calling out and stopping China’s surveillance attempts on Americans to protecting our intellectual property to standing up to China’s assaults on democracies around the world, I have helped secure American interests by treating the CCP like the threat they are, and I won’t stop when I’m governor.
Now, with President Trump returning power to the states, I know I’m the leader to continue this fight back home. As governor, I will make certain that Tennessee farmland stays in the hands of our farmers. Our foreign adversaries should never have Tennessee soil they call their own, and soon they will no longer even have a place to stand.
Tennessee must stand up to the CCP. We live in the greatest state in the world in the greatest country in the world, and Tennessee should be leading the way. I have a proven track record of not shying away from a tough fight. I will stand up to the CCP and Chinese state-backed corporate interests, telling them to keep their hands off our kids and off our farmland.
If Tennessee leads our nation in a conservative, America-first economic revival, our nation will be strong enough to stand up to any adversary and break China!
Senator Marsha Blackburn is the senior United States senator from the great state of Tennessee and a candidate for governor of Tennessee in 2026.
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