by Miles Dilworth at Daily Mail
- Sun Guangxin owns 7 percent of all land in Val Verde County after buying more than 130,000 acres for an estimated $110million between 2016 and 2018
- The billionaire, who has extensive ties to the Chinese state, sparked national security fears with a plan to build a wind farm that would plug into the grid
- He is now thought to have sold the land following opposition from local ranchers, but there are concerns Sun has retained an interest in the property
Texas ranchers are on the brink of booting out a Chinese billionaire who has bought more than 130,000 acres of farmland in the state, sparking fears over national security, DailyMail.com can reveal.
Sun Guangxin, who has extensive ties with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), paid an estimated $110million for swathes of Texan real estate between 2016 and 2018 in an unprecedented foreign land grab in the Lone Star State.
But DailyMail.com understands he has now sold the most controversial part of his portfolio, a 15,000-acre ranch that included plans for a 46-turbine wind farm, and is planning to offload the rest of his vast Texan empire.
Opponents of the wind farm claim it would provide the former Chinese military captain access to the state electric grid, presenting a potential risk to energy security given Sun’s well-documented loyalty to the Chinese state.
The fight is far from over, however, with campaigners claiming ongoing dealings could allow the billionaire to retain an interest in the property, providing Beijing with a backdoor to critical state infrastructure…
Continue Reading