Gov. Ron DeSantis raised concern over the Chinese Communist Party’s growing influence in Florida amid scrutiny of a Chinese firm’s purchase of 1,400 acres of land in the state in the hopes of building a primate breeding facility.
JOINN Laboratories CA Inc. purchased the land in Levy County, Florida, for about $5.5 million in July, state records show. Reports indicate the company plans to build a primate breeding and quarantine facility on the land.
Located in California, the lab is a subsidiary of drug developer JOINN Laboratories, a Beijing-based company whose founders have ties to the Chinese military. The lab’s purchase of the 10 parcels of land from L & T Cattle & Timber represents one of the biggest known Chinese acquisitions of U.S. land in recent years.
DeSantis’ office told The Epoch Times that the latest Chinese land buy is an example of the activities the Republican governor is working to combat.
