Port: Finally, a straight answer from the feds about Fufeng

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MINOT, N.D. — The Department of the Air Force has, finally, provided some clarity to a long-simmering local controversy over a wet corn milling project to be built in Grand Forks.

What took so long?

For those of you just catching up, the company behind the project is Fufeng , which is based in China, and whose corporate leadership has ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Local officials, up to and including Gov. Doug Burgum, have justifiably been supportive of the project. Because, on paper, a facility like that is an economic boon to Grand Forks and the region.

But the project’s ties to China were always problematic. The project is proximate to the Grand Forks Air Force Base. As I detailed in a column last year, China hasn’t been shy about using seemingly benign commercial ventures as cover for its efforts to spy and undermine American interests, both inside our borders and abroad.

Was the Fufeng project a threat to the Grand Forks Air Force Base?

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