Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) announced new executive actions and legislative proposals on Thursday aimed at combatting the influence of China and other hostile foreign nations in the state.
The new actions from DeSantis are aimed at addressing threats posed by China, Cuba, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and Venezuela in cyberspace, real estate, and academia.
The actions seek to block the nations from being able to engage in espionage or influence operations within the state and preventing purchases of agricultural land and lands surrounding military bases by those governments or their agents.
“From server farms to farmland, the Communist Party of China has been worming its way into our nation’s data storage systems and buying up tracts of land near sensitive national security sites,” DeSantis said in a statement. “By prohibiting the purchase of lands, state contracts with Chinese technology firms, and the infiltration of CCP-affiliated groups such as Confucius Institutes, Florida is leading the way to protect our nation from international foes.”
DeSantis signed an executive order that, effective immediately, prohibits government entities from procuring technology products and services from companies owned by, controlled by, or domiciled in foreign countries of concern.
The governor also proposed legislative action that would ban government organizations from contracting with companies owned by, controlled by, or domiciled in hostile foreign countries if the contract would provide access to personal information of the state’s residents.
DeSantis announced new legislative proposals to ban those countries being able to purchase land near military bases, which comes after China has purchased land near U.S. Military bases and has infiltrated critical U.S. infrastructure.
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