美中关系阴影难消,得州拟禁止中国公民及企业买房购地_OK阅读网
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美中关系阴影难消,得州拟禁止中国公民及企业买房购地
How U.S.-China Tensions Could Affect Who Buys the House Next Door

来源:纽约时报    2023-02-10 09:59



        HOUSTON — After a Chinese billionaire with plans to create a wind farm bought up more than 130,000 acres of Texas land, some of it near a U.S. Air Force base, the state responded with a ban on such infrastructure projects by those with direct ties to China.        休斯敦——一名中国亿万富翁在得克萨斯州买下了逾5万公顷的土地,用来建造风力发电场,其中部分土地靠近一个美国空军基地,为此,该州作出回应,禁止与中国有直接关系者投资此类基础设施项目。
        Now, a Republican state senator is proposing to broaden the ban, seeking to stop Chinese citizens and companies from buying land, homes or any other real estate in Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott announced his support last month: “I will sign it,” he wrote without equivocation on Twitter.        现在,一名共和党州参议员提议扩大禁令范围,寻求阻止中国公民和企业在得克萨斯州购置土地、住房或任何其他房地产。上个月,州长格雷格·阿博特宣布对此予以支持:“我会签署它,”他在Twitter上明确写道。
        His endorsement underscored just how important foreign land ownership, particularly by Chinese buyers, has become as a political issue, not just in Texas but across the country.        他的支持凸显出,外国人的土地所有权,尤其是中国买家的土地所有权已成为一个多么重要的政治问题,不仅得州如此,全美皆然。
        Tensions have been rising between the United States and China over a range of issues, including international trade, recognition of Taiwan and the war in Ukraine. On Friday, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken abruptly canceled a planned weekend trip to China — the first by a U.S. secretary of state since 2018 — after the discovery of what U.S. officials described as a Chinese surveillance balloon drifting over the American heartland. (On Saturday, a U.S. fighter jet shot down the balloon off the coast of South Carolina.)        美中之间的紧张关系在一系列问题上不断升级,其中包括国际贸易、对台湾地位的承认以及乌克兰战争。在美国发现一个中国的监视气球飘过美国心脏地带后,上周五,国务卿布林肯突然取消了原定周末前往中国的行程。(上周六,一架美军战斗机在南卡罗来纳州海岸附近将该气球击落。)
        The geopolitical strain has fueled calls for a more aggressive approach to Chinese investments in the United States with an eye on security.        地缘政治压力促使有关人士呼吁,在着眼于安全的情况下,要以更为主动的态度对待中国在美国的投资。
        “We don’t want to have holdings by hostile nations,” Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida said in a news conference last month. Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia made it part of his State of the Commonwealth speech soon after, urging lawmakers in his state to prevent “dangerous foreign entities” tied to the Chinese government from purchasing farmland.        “我们不希望敌意国家持有佛州地产,”佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯在上个月的一次新闻发布会上说。不久之后,弗吉尼亚州州长格伦·杨金也在州情咨文演讲中提及此事,敦促该州立法者阻止与中国政府有关联的“危险外国实体”购买农田。
        Chinese owners have very slowly expanded their holdings in U.S. agricultural land in recent decades, but the increasingly hostile political climate has made the topic a rising concern, with at least 11 states considering some form of new legislation related to foreign ownership of farmland or real estate, according the National Conference of State Legislatures.        州议会全国会议的数据显示,近几十年来,中国所有者在美国农业用地的持股速度增长非常缓慢,但日益恶劣的政治气候让这个话题越来越受关注,至少有11个州正在考虑出台某种形式的新立法,限制外国人持有农田或房地产。
        Some of the new and proposed laws go beyond targeting Chinese nationals to broadly take aim at ownership by all foreign governments, businesses and new immigrants. Other laws, like the one under consideration in Texas, single out countries seen as particular security threats, including Russia, Iran and North Korea, in addition to China.        一些新法律及拟议中的法律不仅针对中国公民,还广泛针对所有外国政府、企业和新移民的置业。还有一些法律,比如得州正在考虑的一部法律,格外针对那些被视为特别安全威胁的国家,除中国外,还有俄罗斯、伊朗和朝鲜。
        Nor are Republican lawmakers the only ones challenging foreign land ownership. In California, a bill to rein in foreign ownership of farmland passed both Democratically controlled houses last year. The bill’s sponsor, Senator Melissa Hurtado, a Democrat, said it was an effort to stop the purchases while trying to better understand the motivation behind them.        质疑外国人土地所有权的,不仅仅是共和党议员。去年在加州,一项限制外国人拥有农田的法案在民主党控制的两院都得到通过。该法案发起者、民主党参议员梅丽莎·乌尔塔多说,此举是为了在阻止购买的同时试图搞清楚置业背后的动机。
        “Something doesn’t smell right,” she said in an interview. Other Democrats, including in Congress, have proposed legislation to increase the oversight of foreign agricultural land purchases.        “有些东西感觉不对劲,”她在接受采访时说。包括国会议员在内的其他一些民主党人,已提议通过立法加强对外国农业购买土地的监管。
        State Senator Lois W. Kolkhorst, the sponsor of the Texas bill, said in a statement that foreign land ownership had become an issue in her district, a mostly rural area stretching west and south of Houston.        得州法案的发起人、州参议员路易斯·科尔克霍斯特在声明中说,在她的选区,外国人拥有土地已经成为一大问题。她的选区位于休斯敦的西部和南部,以农村为主。
        “One of the top concerns for many Texans is national security and the growing ownership of Texas land by certain adversarial foreign entities,” Senator Kolkhorst said, referring to the Chinese purchase of the land near an Air Force base near Del Rio, Texas, for a proposed wind farm.        “国家安全和某些敌对外国实体掌握了越来越多的得州土地,这是许多得州人最为关切的问题之一,”科尔霍斯特参议员表示,她指的是中国为建造风电场收购得州德尔里奥空军基地附近土地。
        But the legislative push, while in some cases bipartisan, has largely brought opposition from Democratic elected leaders. The California bill was vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. In Texas, Democratic leaders said the broad measure now before the Legislature appeared to be prompted more by a rising anti-China political environment than by any legitimate concern over espionage or foreign ownership of the food supply.        尽管两党进行了一定合作,但这类立法努力在很大程度上遭到了民主党当选领导人的反对。加州的法案被州长加文·纽森否决。得州民主党领导人声称,眼下提交议会的广泛措施似乎更多是受到反华政治环境加剧的推动,而不是出于对间谍活动或外国掌控食品供应的合理担忧。
        The bill as currently written would make it impossible for the large number of Chinese immigrants who have come to work in the tech sector or study at Texas universities to do something as basic as buy a home. It would not affect those who already own such property.        目前起草的法案将导致在科技行业工作或在得州大学学习的大量中国移民连买房这样基本的行为都无法完成。该法案不会影响已经拥有此类资产的群体。
        “Through the years I have helped a lot of Chinese immigrants purchase their homes in Houston, and a lot of them had been working toward their citizenship for years,” Kevin Yu, a green card holder and a real estate agent in Houston, said at a protest. “These people can be engineers, medical doctors, accountants and teachers.” The proposed bill in Texas, he said, would “take American dreams away from these people, including my family.”        “这些年来,我帮助许多中国移民在休斯敦买了房,他们中的许多人都为获得公民身份努力了很多年,”绿卡持有者、休斯敦的房产经纪人凯文·于(音)在一场抗议活动中表示。“他们可能是工程师、医生、会计和教师。”他说,得州拟议的法案将“剥夺这些人的美国梦,包括我的家人”。
        A 2021 census survey estimated that about 150,000 foreign-born Chinese are living in Texas, a larger population than any of the other nationalities targeted by the proposed ban.        2021年的一项人口普查估计,约有15万海外出生的华人居住在得州,他们是受拟议禁令影响最大的群体,人口数量超过了其他任何民族。
        Protesters have rallied against the bill in Houston and Dallas in recent weeks, saying that the legislative efforts could worsen the climate of anti-Asian violence and could be easily extended to include other immigrant groups.        最近几周,抗议者在休斯敦和达拉斯集会反对该法案,称此立法或导致反亚裔的暴力氛围恶化,也很容易殃及其他移民群体。
        State Representative Gene Wu, a Houston Democrat, said he supported laws targeting foreign corporations with ties to the government from buying certain property. “That’s fine,” said Mr. Wu, who was born in Guangzhou, China, and immigrated to Texas with his family as a child. “But the difference is this bill. This bill attacks individuals, private people with no connections with other governments other than being from that country.”        得州众议员、休斯敦民主党人吴元之表示,他支持出台法律限制与政府相关的外国企业收购某些资产。“那样做没问题,”吴元之说,他出生于中国广州,幼年随家人移民至得州。“但这个法案却不一样。这个法案针对的是个人,是除了来自他国之外,与他国政府没有任何关联的私人。”
        Lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas who are watching the bill’s progress said the measure was likely to run afoul of the federal government’s prerogative to manage relations with other nations, and that it was unconstitutional.        美国公民自由联盟得州分会的律师正在关注该法案的进展,他们表示,这项措施可能与联邦政府处理对外关系的特权相冲突,而且违反了宪法。
        “The discriminatory bill would prohibit members of our communities from participating in the Texas economy, including dual citizens and legal permanent residents, such as green card holders,” said David Donatti, a lawyer with the A.C.L.U. of Texas.        “这项歧视性法案将禁止我们社区的成员参与得州经济,包括双国籍公民和合法永久居民,如绿卡持有者,”该分会律师戴维·多纳蒂表示。
        Some legal scholars were also skeptical. “Such a bill would raise a host of constitutional issues,” said Stephen I. Vladeck, a constitutional law professor at the University of Texas. Because the measure does not distinguish between targeting people who are already here and those outside the United States, he said, it raises “serious due process and equal protection issues.”        一些法律学者也持怀疑态度。“这样的法案将引发一系列宪法议题,”得克萨斯大学宪法学教授斯蒂芬·弗拉德克说道。他认为,此举没有将美国境内外的人群进行区分,因而引发了“严重的正当程序和平等保护争议。”
        In response to an inquiry from The New York Times, Senator Kolkhorst said in a statement that she would amend her bill “to include a provision that will make crystal clear that the prohibitions do not apply to United States citizens and lawful permanent residents.”        科尔霍斯特参议员在回应《纽约时报》询问的一份声明中表示,她将修订法案,“加入一项条款,明确规定这些禁令不适用于美国公民以及合法永久居民。”
        That would mean, presumably, that Chinese green card holders would be entitled to buy property but more recent immigrants, or those on temporary work visas, would not.        这大致意味着持绿卡的华人将有权购买资产,但新移民或持临时工签者则不能。
        The share of United States farmland owned by Chinese people and companies is small and has not been growing substantially. Chinese owners held about 350,000 acres at the end of 2020, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report, and most of the farmland came from the Chinese acquisition of Smithfield Foods in 2013. Canadian owners, by contrast, held 12.4 million acres.
        华人和中国企业在美国拥有耕地的份额很小,也一直没有过大幅增长。根据美国农业部的报告,截至2020年底,中国所有者持有约14.2万公顷土地,其中大部分耕地都来自中国2013年对史密斯菲尔德食品的收购。相较之下,加拿大所有者持有土地面积超过500万公顷。
        The figures do not include residential or commercial buildings, though that has largely not been the focus of most legislative efforts. Chinese investors are among the top foreign purchasers of residential real estate, along with Canadians, according to the National Association of Realtors.        这些数据不包括住宅和商业体,但此类资产大抵不是这项立法针对的重点。根据全美房产经纪人协会的数据,中国与加拿大投资者都是美国住宅房地产的最大外国买家。
        Other states have had concerns over foreign ownership of land and have made efforts to regulate it. Some states, including Minnesota and Iowa, have enacted bans on foreign ownership of agricultural land, and a larger number place restrictions on such purchases. The Oklahoma Constitution limits land ownership to U.S. citizens. Those laws, unlike the proposal in Texas, do not single out citizens of particular countries.        其他州政府也对外国持有土地的问题感到担忧,并已采取措施进行监管。包括明尼苏达州和爱达荷州在内的一些州已经颁布了禁止外国拥有农业用地的法令,更多的州则对此类收购施加了更多限制。俄克拉荷马州宪法只允许美国公民拥有土地。与得州提案不同,此类法律并未针对特定国家的公民。
        In Canada, a sweeping ban on foreign ownership of residential property went into effect this year — a move that the country’s liberal leadership said was aimed at curbing soaring housing prices.        加拿大也从今年开始全面禁止外国人购买住宅,该国自由派领导人声称此举旨在遏制房价飙升。
        However, the proposed ban in Texas, endorsed by Mr. Abbott, appears to go further than the laws adopted in other U.S. states, both in applying to all “real property” — including urban buildings or condominium apartments — and in applying its provisions not only to the governments of certain countries but also to their citizens.        然而,得到阿博特支持的得州拟议禁令似乎比美国其他州颁布的法案更进一步,这不仅在于它涉及到一切“不动产”——包括城市建筑或公寓——也在于其条款不仅针对某些国家的政府,还针对这些国家的公民。
        During its last session, in 2021, the Texas Legislature barred companies from the same list of countries targeted in the new proposed law from winning contracts that relate to “critical infrastructure” in the state, including the electricity grid, water treatment plants, and cybersecurity and communications systems.        在2021年召开的上届会议上,得州议会禁止来自新拟议法案所针对国家的企业赢得与该州“关键基础设施”相关的合同,包括电网、水处理厂、以及网络安全通信系统。
        That bill came in response to the plan by the Chinese billionaire, Sun Guangxin, to construct a wind farm that would have connected to the Texas electricity grid. The bill passed with bipartisan support in the State Senate, and Mr. Abbott signed it.        该法案于中国亿万富豪孙广信提出风电场建造计划后出台,该风电场本将与得州电网相连。该法案得到州参议院的两党支持,由阿博特签署通过。
        A representative of Mr. Sun did not respond to a request for comment.        孙广信的代表没有回复置评请求。
                
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