anyone in Grand Forks have the straight dope on this:



Lastly, it must be a very curious coincidence indeed that Fufeng Group zeroed in so quickly on Grand Forks, ND. The nearby US Air Force installation, Grand Forks AFB, is a critical component in the USAF’s strategic basing network for ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance) assets. Further, the base is home to the 10th Space Warning Squadron, a major node in the U.S’ early warning and detection network for ballistic missile threats against North America. It’s also a key element in the USAF Space Surveillance Network, which is tasked with monitoring targets and potential threats in space. Such a short line of sight to the base from Fufeng’s proposed location on the northwest side of Grand Forks makes signal intercept a relatively simply task using low-observable technology mounted unobtrusively to the plant’s superstructure. Perhaps we could consider this a fluke, except another recent high-profile situation would argue that CCP-aligned assets intend to acquire land and infrastructure directly adjacent to important U.S. military installations for purposes potentially ranging from digital snooping to outright sabotage.

Belt and Road Comes to the Heartland

@BeNotAfraid

Figured since nobody has responded I would give it a shot....

I’m local…this battle has been raging for the last few weeks/months here.  The city council seems hell bent on bringing these guys in for some reason.  The topic has dominated local talk radio recently and I think for the most part the community is opposed to it.  

There is a group of rural homeowners and business owners who are about to have their properties annexed by the city – and get hammered with tax assessments for new infrastructure - who just turned in a petition with enough signatures to force a city-wide vote on this.  In a vote this will most certainly be voted down as long as the city doesn’t fuck with the vote.

Everything has been brought up by the citizens, including the things talked about in this article, and the City still stands behind this project.  

If there is an “honest vote” on this, it WILL fail.  I guess we’ll see.  I’m 15 miles away from this so I don’t have a dog in the fight when it comes to a vote, but I’m hoping it fails.    

Edit - Also worth noting, the Chinese have already had a large presence in the GF community over the years because they fund aviation training for their pilots at the University of NoDak, which is located within 2 miles of where this plant is going to be built.

Much thanks, jl3612! Good to hear that it's opposed by locals.

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The 'Belt and Road' Comes to the Heartland - Claims and Facts