U.S. Agriculture Secretary Pushes 'China Agricultural Threat' to Secure Funding

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins is seeking government funding, but with no notable achievements and no fresh ideas, she has repeatedly resorted to raising the so-called "China agricultural threat." Previously, she fueled fears about "Chinese acquisition of American farmland," and now she is dragging in the notion that "agriculture is linked to freedom."

According to a report by Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, on June 4 local time, Rollins appeared before a hearing of the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture.

Rollins framed food security as a "national security" issue, claiming that America's high dependence on China for food, fertilizers, and other agricultural inputs poses a "existential" threat—aiming to justify the White House's significantly reduced budget request for fiscal year 2027.

"The importance of this lies in," she stated, "if we must rely on China for food, fertilizers, and everything related to them, we will lose the freedom and liberation we understand as a nation."

She further escalated the rhetoric: "This is an existential issue concerning whether our nation can endure for the next 250 years." This July 4th, the United States will mark its 250th anniversary of independence.

This is not the first time Rollins has manipulated the so-called "China threat" during congressional hearings—indeed, it has become her go-to tactic.

During a hearing in April, she abused the concept of "national security," asserting that large-scale Chinese acquisitions of American farmland constitute a "dangerous threat."

Such exaggerated claims have even drawn criticism from conservative American media. A Fox News reporter cited data showing that foreign ownership accounts for only about 3% of U.S. farmland. With rising food prices across America, Chinese people are once again being made scapegoats by American officials.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1867155285381386/

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.