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北达科他州大福克斯市的官员现在对拟由农业综合企业巨头扶风集团的子公司扶风美国公司建造的中国玉米厂项目感到不确定。
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市议会主席Dana Sande说，该市没有批准该项目，他们正在通过与美国扶风公司签署的开发协议来确定对社区的风险。
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市议会之前的立场是，美国扶风项目是该市的经济福音，预计将创造700个直接和间接的就业机会，带来每年高达100万美元的新增财产税收入。
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由于阜丰集团的中国血统和该土地靠近大福克斯空军基地，去年该项目最初的批准导致了公众的担忧和愤怒。
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阜丰项目是否构成国家安全风险的问题传到了华盛顿，美国外国投资委员会（CFIUS）进行了审查，结论是该土地交易不属于其管辖范围，不会阻止该项目。
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市政府官员在没有提供解释的情况下改变了立场，但议会成员表示，仍有许多对社区至关重要的尽职调查项目尚未完成。
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市政府官员受到了反对该项目的居民的攻击，他们不认为美国外国投资委员会的决定是一个绿灯。
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一些居民担心，建造农业综合企业设施的计划是监视空军基地的间谍活动的掩护，或者可能将 "中国共产党 "带到他们的城镇。
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市政府官员在这个过程中很晚才了解到中国对这个项目的资助，而且城市管理者将国家安全风险描述为 "不太明确 "和主观的。
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市议员Ken Vien呼吁进一步讨论国家安全问题，并应邀请专家谈论 “这些国家安全风险到底是什么”。
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美国空军的公共事务主管说，空军基地在2021年11月了解到扶风项目，而市政府官员从未与基地官员坐下来讨论。
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City officials of Grand Forks, North Dakota, are now uncertain about a proposed Chinese corn mill project to be built by Fufeng USA, a subsidiary of Fufeng Group, an agribusiness giant.
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The city council president, Dana Sande, said the city has not approved the project and they are working through the development agreement signed with Fufeng USA to determine the risk to the community.
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The council’s previous stance was that the Fufeng USA project was an economic boon for the city and was expected to create 700 direct and indirect jobs, bring in up to $1 million in added annual property tax revenue.
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The initial approvals of the project last year led to public concerns and outrage due to Fufeng Group’s Chinese origin and the land’s proximity to Grand Forks Air Force Base.
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The question of whether the Fufeng project posed a national security risk reached Washington and a review was conducted by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS), which concluded that the land deal was not within its jurisdiction and would not block the project.
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City officials changed their stance without offering an explanation, but council members said there were still a lot of pending due diligence items critical to the community.
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City officials were under attack from residents who opposed the project and did not consider the CFIUS determination as a green light.
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Some residents feared the plans to build the agribusiness facility was a cover for espionage activities monitoring the air force base, or could bring “Communist China” to their town.
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City officials learned about the Chinese financing of the project very late in the process, and the city administrator described national security risks as “less defined” and subjective.
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Council member Ken Vien called for further discussions on the national security issue, and experts should be invited to talk about “what these national security risks really are.”
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The public affairs chief for the US Air Force said the air force base learned about the Fufeng project in November 2021 and city officials never sat down with base officials to discuss it.