Stacey Abrams Blasts Brian Kemp on China, Potential Security Threats to Georgia

Today, Stacey Abrams blasted Gov. Brian Kemp in a Fox News exclusive interview – for “enticing increased Chinese investment in the state” despite “the greater threat to national security it could bring,” and criticizing his administration for using “the Chinese messaging service WeChat, which shares its data with the Chinese government by law.” 

Abrams “emphasized the potential threat continued Chinese investment could have on America’s ability to defend itself, citing the large U.S. military presence and infrastructure in Georgia, and warned against allowing more investment without regulation.”

When asked for a response from Fox News, Kemp campaign press secretary Tate Mitchell “did not speak to the national security concerns Abrams raised.”

Congresswoman Nikema Williams, Democratic Party of Georgia Chair released the following statement:

“Georgians deserve answers on why Governor Kemp has been using our taxpayer dollars to encourage the Chinese Communist Party to buy up our state’s farmland — including land that’s close to our military bases. More than 100 of my Republican colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives and many Republicans in the U.S. Senate have raised concerns on this issue and know it’s an urgent national security threat — why won’t Kemp speak to these concerns?”

Fox News: EXCLUSIVE: Stacey Abrams turns China hawk to attack Gov. Kemp, warns of ‘national security threat’ from CCP

• EXCLUSIVE: Stacey Abrams is blasting Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp for enticing increased Chinese investment in the state despite what she says is the greater threat to national security it could bring, as well as the potential surveillance of Georgians by the Chinese Communist Party.

• In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, the Democratic nominee for governor hammered Kemp for using taxpayer dollars to encourage Chinese companies to purchase Georgia farmland, and cited Republican lawmakers, and former President Trump, who have expressed concern over China’s investments, to further her argument.

• Abrams also warned against Georgia officials’ use of the Chinese messaging service WeChat, which shares its data with the Chinese government by law, to communicate with companies in China interested in investing in the state.

• “We need to be deeply, deeply concerned, because it’s not just a national security issue, it is a Georgia ownership issue. [Kemp] is placing farmland in the state of Georgia in the hands of, basically, a nation that has proven itself to be a national security threat,” Abrams said. 

• “And what I’m specifically concerned about is WeChat. He is using taxpayer money to fund a website that uses an app that both Donald Trump and Joe Biden have called a threat to national security. More than 100 Republicans have called for better security because they understand that Tencent, the company that owns it, uses that data to surveil their people, and thus may be using that same data to surveil Georgians,” she added.

• The taxpayer funded website Abrams cited is run by the Georgia Department of Economic Development, but has a Chinese country code top-level domain and includes all Chinese language content.

• The homepage also encourages interested parties to subscribe to the Georgia Economic Development Agency’s official WeChat account.

• When asked about the national security implications of WeChat, Abrams stressed the potentially dangerous effects it could have on Georgians.

• “It is a breach of security, but it is also a breach of logic, and I don’t understand why the current governor of Georgia would be so eager to put us in the position of having Chinese nationals, who are using our state to surveil people — why he would not have better cybersecurity rules in place. And I think that’s a question he should be asked,” she said.

• WeChat, owned by Tencent Holdings Ltd., a Chinese media conglomerate with ties to government intelligence services, was referred to in a recent article by Bloomberg as “China’s Most Beloved (and Feared) Surveillance Tool,” and is used by the Chinese government to monitor and censor messages sent within China and around the world. 

• According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Georgia is one of only 15 states with over 1 million acres of farmland owned by foreigners and has the 14th highest proportion of foreign to domestic held agricultural land, with foreign entities owning 3.6% of agricultural land in the state.

• Abrams further emphasized the potential threat continued Chinese investment could have on America’s ability to defend itself, citing the large U.S. military presence and infrastructure in Georgia, and warned against allowing more investment without regulation.

• “Georgia has 13 military installations, we are the home to the CDC, we have two million military families in the state of Georgia, we have one of the largest economies in the nation, and we are one of the largest providers of access to food. Whether it’s selling our farmland to foreign national corporations without real metrics and controls, or allowing WeChat to actually have a location in state government, this is dire,” she said.

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