Americans struggle to counter the Communist Party of China’s use and abuse of US laws to control property in the United States. Frequently, political leaders respond with sanctions or prohibitions. Even “Prohibition,” the Eighteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, had an expiring shelf-life. We need to use other tools to limit undesirable or encourage desirable behaviors.

It would work much better to write into law that any property sale found, even after the transaction concluded, to have been conducted for the Communist Party of China’s benefit or at its direction, would be forfeited to the state of its location. This would create negative consequences for the PRC, not for Americans.  Upon a judicial finding, by a federal or state court, of PRC officials’ involvement in purchase of a property, the PRC-tied buyer could forfeit property to the state where the property is located. From the PRC’s strategic perspective, this increases the amount of its investment exposure and stretches its assessment of a favorable return over more time.