Anti-Asian bigotry is behind a Texas land bill

Friction between China and the United States has placed U.S. officials in a quandary. On the one hand, they must address the very real security challenges arising from great power competition in the Pacific. But whenever U.S. officials vilify China, they risk fanning the flames of anti-Asian racism at home. As a result, policymakers worried about China’s rise need to frame their words and actions carefully.

Unfortunately, a growing number of state legislators and members of Congress are offering a master class in how not to confront China by supporting indiscriminate crackdowns on Chinese citizens and companies seeking to purchase U.S. land. The most divisive proposal has come from Texas, where top Republican officials, including Gov. Greg Abbott, have rallied around the ham-handed Senate Bill 147.

As written, SB 147 would prohibit all Chinese citizens — including dual citizens, visa holders, asylum seekers and lawful permanent residents of the United States — from buying land in Texas. The bill is not exclusively anti-Chinese. It also targets citizens of Iran, North Korea and Russia. Despite that, Republican leaders like state agriculture commissioner Sid Miller have cast Chinese landowners in an especially threatening light, urging the state legislature to “prevent China from buying the land that feeds our cities, houses our national defenses, and is our American birthright.”