WASHINGTON — Sen. Bernie Moreno is demanding a national security review of a Chinese solar manufacturer’s purchase of a facility located near a US military base in Dayton, Ohio, arguing the firm is a “shell company” for Beijing’s efforts to “advance its military and intelligence objectives.”
In a Friday letter, Moreno (R-Ohio) expressed his “grave concerns” to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and asked his department to investigate the transaction, which had been referred to him by the Dayton Development Coalition June 22.
“It is my understanding that SolarSpace intends to lease or purchase a facility located at 2555 Woodman Drive, Kettering, Ohio, which is approximately 13 miles from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base,” Moreno said.
“Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is a critical military installation with a workforce of approximately 38,000 employees … The base is not only one of the Department of War’s most strategically significant installations, but also a cornerstone of U.S. air and space superiority, serving as a central hub for aerospace research, engineering, and intelligence, including the Air Force Research Laboratory,” he added.
“Yet, one of our greatest foes is attempting to move in nearly next door.”
Moreno also urged Bessent: “We cannot allow potential shell companies for the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] to buy land or facilities near our most sensitive military and critical infrastructure sites, including Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.”
SolarSpace Technology Co., Ltd., whose reps didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, is headquartered in Xuzhou, China, and makes solar cells and modules.
Beijing has been quietly buying up US farmland and other facilities near military bases and other installations in recent years, alarming American officials and national security experts.
In 2024, The Post identified at least 19 bases from Florida to Hawaii that stood near land purchased by Chinese entities — including Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, as well as Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg) in Fayetteville, NC; Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in San Diego, Calif., and MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., among others.
“It is concerning due to the proximity to strategic locations,” Robert S. Spalding III, a retired United States Air Force brigadier general whose work focuses on US-China relations, said at the time.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) last year introduced legislation to block such purchases, saying that the CCP’s “efforts to infiltrate and surveil all parts of the US national security apparatus requires vigilance from our national security agencies.”
The bill, which has yet to be voted out of the committee, is supposed to mandate enhanced national security reviews of all foreign real estate transactions through the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) — which Bessent chairs.
The measure also forces agencies whose leaders make up CFIUS — including the Pentagon, State Department, Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security — to update data annually so military facilities can be newly designated as sensitive sites. The bill would also require annual reports to Congress about real estate lists involved in such transactions.
In July 2025, President Trump’s US Department of Agriculture also launched an effort alongside other agencies to ban the purchase of US farmland by Chinese nationals.
Reps for the Treasury did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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