New Hampshire Residents Should Be Outraged Over Nongfu Spring Deal

Last week, the Granite Eagle broke a major story about the State of New Hampshire being actively involved in recruiting and facilitating the purchase of a 338,000 square foot facility in Nashua, NH by Nongfu Spring, a Chinese food and beverage company. Prior to the details being exposed about how involved New Hampshire officials were, the only thing the public knew was that a Chinese company had purchased a massive facility in Nashua, NH. That was it.

Now we know that the New Hampshire’s Department of Business and Economic Affairs (BEA) was actively involved in this deal. Who from the State of NH was involved? Who was driving this initiative? What government officials met with the Chinese entourage who came to New Hampshire to tour the property and solidify the deal? Who received financial benefits from this transaction? 

We know about the warnings that have been issued about China purchasing land in sensitive areas in the United States. Fortunately, New Hampshire passed a law that bars countries like China from buying land in the state, but unfortunately, it did not go into effect until after the Nongfu Spring deal closed. Timing is everything.

Technically, no laws were broken in this deal. But what was broken is the trust New Hampshire citizens have in our elected officials who are supposed to be looking out for our best interests. Instead, people we elected hired people who helped facilitate a Chinese company purchasing a massive facility with direct access to our public water supply. Those elected officials knew about this deal and they kept it quiet on purpose. We, as New Hampshire citizens, did not find out about it until after the sale was closed. And that is an absolute disgrace.

The other concerning part about the Nongfu Spring deal is how it was reported on and covered by New Hampshire media outlets. Sure, when news broke about the real estate transaction closing, it started to be covered. People were irate and began asking questions about how this could possibly happen in New Hampshire.

However, the Granite Eagle uncovered that the State of New Hampshire helped facilitate the deal, but no media outlets covered it. We even gave a nudge to WMUR and the Union Leader. We let them know what we uncovered and offered to share the details. Not surprisingly, both WMUR and the Union Leader chose not to cover the story of corruption in our state and kept the breaking news about the state being intricately involved in the Nongfu Spring deal from the public.

If that doesn’t concern every New Hampshire citizen, I don’t know what will. Once again, the biased New Hampshire media held back critical information from the public. It’s appalling and it should make everyone question where they get their news.

People should be fired over the Nongfu Spring deal. It’s one of the most outrageous scandals I have ever come across in my entire life living in New Hampshire. It’s embarrassing, repulsive and it’s time for accountability.

Chris Thompson’s (christhompsnh@gmail.com) column is published weekly on graniteeaglepress.com and howiecarrshow.com