South Carolina OKs bill barring 'foreign adversary' land holdings

South Carolina’s Republican-controlled Senate has passed a bill to bar citizens of “foreign adversary” nations from buying property in the state, an anti-espionage measure that critics fear will chill overseas investments over outsize concerns.

The measure approved on Thursday by a 31-5 vote would apply to citizens of so-called adversarial countries on a United States Department of Commerce list that currently includes China, Russia, Cuba, Iran and North Korea.

The bill is one of numerous like-minded measures that have arisen across the country after a suspected Chinese spy balloon recently floated over US territory and was brought down off the South Carolina coast. The overflight fuelled lawmakers’ worries that nefarious actors may advance surveillance efforts under the guise of land ownership. At least 11 state legislatures are considering similar proposals.

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