How Uyghur in China Impact Fayette County

To the Editor:

This may seem like a strange question, but it’s a topic I heard about last Thursday night, in a meeting where our State Senator, Lois Kolkhorst updated listeners on the latest session of the Texas Legislature. There are presumed to be about 12 million Uyghur in China, and you might do your own web research at https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uyghurs or by any other means. That wiki resource conforms well with other reading I’ve done, so I’ll quote, with some abridgement: “Since 2014, the Chinese government has subjected Uyghurs living in Xinjiang to widespread human rights abuses, including forced sterilization and forced labor ….. Scholars estimate that at least one million Uyghurs have been arbitrarily detained in the … internment camps since 2017; ... government officials claim that these camps … serve the goals of ensuring adherence to Chinese Communist Party ideology, preventing separatism, fighting terrorism, and providing vocational training to Uyghurs.”

How does this impact Texas or Fayette County? Kolkhorst has introduced Senate Bill SB147, which addresses the issue of the right to purchase property in Texas. This bill constrains only certain aliens (not all), stating: “an alien has the same real and personal property rights as a United States citizen, except as provided (now cited, with abridgement )

For those of China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia, (and who are) ... individual … citizen(s), a governmental entity, a company ... or headquartered, … held or controlled by the government (directly or by stock) May not purchase or otherwise acquire title to real property in this state.”

Does this seem fair? You might want to read a public government document, “Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community, of February 7, 2022. It specifically lists China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia as nations of notable threat, citing unique characteristics of each of these under the heading “Malign Influence.” China’s terrible oppression of the Uyghurs, their threat to invade Taiwan and their aggression in the maritime regions around Asia are all examples of malign influence.

The idea that people and companies from threatening nations buy US property is not far-fetched; — see a web headline,” Someone bought 52,000 acres in the Bay Area. No one knows who they are.” The story describes land that was once Travis Air Force Base.

Senator Kolkhorst has solicited your support for passage of SB147 for Texas by writing to your Texas House member, Governor Abbott and Lt. Governor Patrick.