GOP Gov. Noem warns China sending spies to steal U.S. intellectual properties

South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem on Wednesday warned of the threat posed by Chinese spies to American intellectual property, asserting that Beijing was taking advantage of the porous southern border to deploy its agents in the U.S. interior.

"I have systematically watched China steal our intellectual property, they have manipulated their currency, they have punished us with trade agreements and regulations," she said on the "Just the News, No Noise" television show. "They've come in and purchased our fertilizer and chemical companies, our processing systems, now they're stealing our data and information and spying on us, and then crossing our southern border to infiltrate us with military aged men that are here only to damage us."

"[T]hey are coming here with a mission from their government. They are CCP [Chinese Communist Party] members that are told to come and infiltrate the United States of America to collect data and information," she warned. "In fact, just this summer, we knew and had warnings from the State Department that there was going to be spies in South Dakota that were here to steal our genetics, on our seeds and our agricultural commodities, and on other information on how we grow our food at this country."

Noem then contended that China sought to make the U.S. dependent on Beijing by acquiring its critical infrastructure, including the food and pharmaceutical supplies.

"[T]heir goal is to control the world and be the strongest power. And the only way they can do that is by taking down America," she went on. 

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.