The six Republican candidates for governor at a Carmel debate on March 11, 2024. (Whitney Downard/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
During a 2019 economic development trip to China, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb met with government officials and business leaders, even renewing a decades-old sister-state agreement with Zhejiang Province.
That era appears over.
As lawmakers pass new limits on Chinese land buys, sister-city agreements and pension investments, gubernatorial candidates invariably say they’ll take a similarly frigid approach to China.
That’s despite the possible economic consequences.
Indiana was home to at least 21 China-based businesses in 2019, and they supported an estimated 2,500 jobs across the state, according to an Indiana Economic Development Corp. (IEDC) fact sheet.
The IEDC, a heavily scrutinized quasi-public agency, was in discussions with at least 11 more Chinese companies hoping to purchase or lease Hoosier land, lawmakers said this session. That’s when they banned buys of farmland or land near military installations, with some exceptions.
“Everyone has to play by the rules. And we just made ours crystal clear,” Holcomb said last week.
And he defended the IEDC, telling reporters that deals are often negotiated at the local levels. If they’re big or complicated enough, he said, the IEDC will help out, but — “we’ll do it according to the law.”
Asked if the ban would jeopardize the deals, IEDC spokeswoman Erin Sweitzer said, “The IEDC follows state law and can’t comment on potential economic development deals.”
Holcomb is term-limited. Indiana’s next governor will likely continue — and champion — the crackdown lawmakers began.
Candidates weigh in
Frontrunner U.S. Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana flatly said IEDC “should not” negotiate with Chinese companies. In a statement, he emphasized a “proven conservative track record of holding China accountable.”
Curtis Hill, formerly Indiana’s attorney general, went a step further. He said companies with ties to China’s ruling party shouldn’t be able to operate within the state.
“This is another example of the IEDC failing to protect Hoosiers’ interests,” Hill said in a statement. “… If we want to build a competitive economy that provides good-paying jobs for hardworking Hoosiers, we must do so without the influence of adversarial nations like China.”
Holcomb’s own second-in-command, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, said she’d close the IEDC’s Zhejiang office and move it to an ally country. It was established in 2018, according to an IEDC news release recounting Holcomb’s trip.
“I don’t intended (sic) to jeopardize our foreign direct investment or domestic supply chain superiority, but we don’t need to invest Hoosier IEDC dollars in Communist China when we can achieve the same results with friendly allied countries,” Crouch stated.
She noted her support for House Enrolled Act 1183, the legislation restricting land transactions involving entities from China and five other federally designated “foreign adversary” countries.
Brad Chambers, whom Holcomb appointed to run the IEDC in 2021, said the semi-public agency “shouldn’t” be negotiating with Chinese companies.
His campaign said that — “to the best of our knowledge” — Chambers “never did a deal with a Chinese-controlled company” as IEDC leader and would prohibit such negotiations as governor. Chambers left the role last year to enter the race.
“I believe that the No. 1 job of a governor is to grow the economy and lift Hoosiers up — to do that means playing to win in the global economy,” he said. “However, we can’t do that with countries that don’t share our Hoosier values.”
Conservative activist and candidate Jamie Reitenour said she opposed such negotiations, but also denounced state “meddling in what should be private enterprise.”
“The state has thrown hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars at the IEDC to do work that is private sector work,” Reitenour said in a statement. “It looks like corruption when government agency heads and their business friends shake hands with this kind of taxpayer money at stake … and now, they’re running to be Governor.”
She said Indiana should focus instead on its low taxes and regulations, and on being a “welcoming place to do business.”
Fort Wayne businessman Eric Doden similarly asserted the IEDC “shouldn’t be courting Chinese companies with Hoosier tax dollars.” He highlighted the campaign’s plan for economic development strategies tailored to all 92 counties.
“Indiana’s economic development strategy doesn’t need to sacrifice security for jobs,” said Doden, who led the IEDC from 2013 to 2015. “We will be investing in the main street businesses that drive growth, not Chinese corporations.”
It’s not just Republicans.
Libertarian Donald Rainwater, selected in a convention, said China has “proven itself” as a “political and economic aggressor.”
“Our state government, including the IEDC, should be safeguarding Hoosier businesses from that aggression, not inviting and encouraging it,” Rainwater continued.
He said the IEDC should instead focus more on smaller, homegrown businesses instead of “temporarily” drawing in larger corporations from out of state — “to take advantage of tax incentives and then leave when those incentives expire.”
Democrat Jennifer McCormick didn’t return a request for comment.
Activists warn against racism
But onlookers say the rush to crack down on entities affiliated with China’s ruling party could harm innocent immigrants hoping to make a home in the U.S.
“Now passed, this bill will limit when and where Chinese immigrants looking to support their families can buy a home or a place of business, and establish excessively harsh penalties, such as mandatory forfeiture of one’s property if found in violation of the legislation,” said Cynthia Choi, co-founder of the Stop (Asian American and Pacific Islander) Hate coalition.
“This anti-immigrant legislation enshrines national origin-based discrimination in Indiana law and sends the message to immigrants across the country that they are not welcome to put down roots and are the subject of suspicion, chilling the pursuit of their dreams,” she continued.
Choi said dozens of states “have jumped on the racist and anti-immigrant bandwagon,” inflaming bias against Asian Americans not from China as well.
Senior Reporter Casey Smith contributed reporting.
By Leslie Bonilla Muñiz – The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, not-for-profit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.
