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While overmuch of Congress focuses connected banning China from buying onshore adjacent U.S. subject bases, freshman Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., says the Chinese Communist Party already has a nonstop beingness connected those installations – done nationalist nutrition concatenation GNC.
A measure released by Harrigan this week, the Military Installation Retail Security Act of 2025, would prohibition immoderate companies of Chinese, North Korean, Iranian oregon Russian ownership from operating connected subject bases.
"This is really a concern wherever the CCP is operating connected our subject bases. It’s adjacent crazier [than overseas onshore purchases]," Harrigan told Fox News Digital.
In June 2020, vitamin retailer GNC filed for bankruptcy and was wholly acquired by Harbin Pharmaceuticals, a partially state-owned endeavor successful China. Harbin had antecedently acquired a 40% involvement successful GNC successful 2018.
Rep. Pat Harrigan released a caller measure that would prohibition companies owned by adversaries from operating connected U.S. bases. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
In 2019, GNC agreed to integrate its manufacturing with International Vitamin Corporation (IVC), which has a consortium of Chinese investors.
The company, founded successful Pittsburgh, had already been operating connected U.S. bases for years astatine the clip of its sale, and its imaginable to assistance with Chinese surveillance connected subject bases was overlooked.
Now, immoderate 85 GNC stores run connected U.S. military bases. They run nether what are known arsenic "long word concessions" contracts, meaning they are operated, staffed and supplied by GNC.
"This is simply a truly ripe people for quality gathering," said Harrigan. "This is nary gag astir defending the integrity of our military, making definite that overseas adversaries who are actively seeking to undermine america don't person the accidental to bash that from wrong our subject bases."
GNC operates astir 85 wellness stores connected U.S. bases. (Reuters/Jessica DiNapoli)
"You cognize who these radical are, the customers you've got, their purchasing habits. You person entree to delicate wellness accusation based connected the benignant of products that they're purchasing," helium said.
The store could place individuals with vulnerabilities by tracking predominant purchases of testosterone, slumber aids, oregon anxiousness supplements, Harrigan said. It could besides show deployment cycles based connected changes successful buying patterns, helium added.
Harrigan warned that GNC’s entree could adjacent let adversaries to present banned oregon harmful substances – oregon counterfeit products – to degrade subject readiness.
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The store besides poses imaginable cyber risks, Harrigan said, noting that in-store WiFi and mobile information tracking could uncover unit geolocations. Loyalty apps and promotional materials, helium warned, could beryllium utilized to embed malicious links oregon software.
Fox News Digital reached retired to GNC for remark but did not person a effect anterior to publication.
Lawmakers person introduced dozens of bills aimed astatine blocking China from buying U.S. onshore adjacent delicate subject sites – a question that gained urgency aft Chinese nutrient shaper Fufeng Group purchased 370 acres adjacent a North Dakota Air Force basal successful 2022.
China owned astir 350,000 acres of farmland crossed 27 states arsenic of past year, according to information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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GNC Holdings appeared connected the System for Award Management – the national registry for authorities contractors – successful 2023 and 2024, contempt not being required to registry owed to its semipermanent concessions contract.
The institution did not disclose its Chinese ownership connected the website, and fto its registration expire successful October 2024.
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As a U.S. legislator from Florida, Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised alarms successful 2020 implicit GNC’s merchantability to Harbin, informing that customers’ idiosyncratic information could beryllium handed implicit to the Chinese Communist Party. He urged the Treasury Department to motorboat a nationalist information review.
Despite those concerns, Bankruptcy Judge Karen Owens approved the $770 cardinal sale. Since then, GNC has capitalized connected renewed involvement successful wellness and wellness to turn its footprint to much than 4,000 stores successful the U.S. and 2,000 internationally, according to the company’s website.
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