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Let me be blunt: A Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-backed company just spent $67 million—four times the assessed value—on a massive property in Nashua located right next to our drinking water supply. And local officials barely blinked. If that doesn’t set off alarm bells about foreign influence and national security, I don’t know what will.

The company is Nongfu Springs, owned by one of China’s richest men with deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Their plan? Build a bottling facility and tap into Nashua’s municipal water—drawing up to 2 million gallons a day. Our water. Our resource. And they were inches away from making it happen until public outrage forced them to withdraw their water permit request.

But they still own the land. And they paid a ridiculous price for it. You don’t spend $67 million on a long-abandoned property unless you’ve got a plan. What is China’s long-term interest here? Nobody’s saying—and that’s a problem.

This site isn’t out in the woods somewhere. It’s right next to Pennichuck Water Works, which supplies drinking water to the city of Nashua. It’s near the airport and BAE Systems, where sensitive defense technology is developed. This is critical infrastructure, and now a company tied to a hostile foreign nation owns land smack in the middle of it.

And what did our local leaders do? Practically rolled out the red carpet. Mayor Donchess and the Board of Aldermen let this deal sail through with no real scrutiny, no serious questions, no transparency, and no public conversation. Nashua taxpayers spent $200 million years ago to make sure our water stayed locally controlled—and now City Hall was ready to quietly sell it by the gallon to a company tied to Beijing. Outrageous.

Let’s be clear: This isn’t about being anti-business or anti-foreign investment. This is about preventing an adversary from buying a foothold in our backyard. Under Chinese law, every Chinese citizen is an agent of the Chinese Communist government, and the CCP has a long track record of using its companies to gain leverage—buying land near U.S. military bases and critical infrastructure, and exploiting our openness. We’d be fools to think Nashua is somehow immune.

Thankfully, at the state level, we acted. My colleague Sen. Regina Birdsell led the charge on a new law that bans Chinese citizens and companies from owning land in New Hampshire, and I proudly co-sponsored that legislation with her. Unfortunately, this law didn’t go into effect until July 1 of this year. If it had been in place last year, this $67 million purchase never would’ve happened.

But this fight is far from over. Nashua’s water and land belong to the people of New Hampshire—not to a foreign regime with a track record of espionage and exploitation. We must stay vigilant. No more backroom deals. No more foreign land grabs. No more gambling with our water supply and national security.

Here’s the bottom line: Our water is not for sale to China—not today, not tomorrow, not ever. And as long as I’m your senator, I’ll do everything I can to keep it that way.