An Ohio Republican senator is demanding the Treasury Department investigate a Chinese solar manufacturer's plan to set up shop roughly 13 miles from one of America's most sensitive military installations, a base that houses the Air Force Research Laboratory and employs 38,000 people.
Sen. Bernie Moreno fired off a letter Friday to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent calling for a formal national security review of SolarSpace Technology Co., Ltd., a solar cell and module maker headquartered in Xuzhou, China. The company, Moreno wrote, intends to lease or purchase a facility at 2555 Woodman Drive in Kettering, Ohio, a short drive from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base outside Dayton. Moreno wants the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, the interagency panel Bessent chairs, to scrutinize the deal before it goes through.
The senator did not hold back about what he believes is at stake. He described SolarSpace as a potential "shell company" for Beijing's efforts to "advance its military and intelligence objectives" and said the proximity to Wright-Patterson makes the planned acquisition a direct national security concern. The Dayton Development Coalition, a regional economic group, first flagged the transaction to Moreno's office on June 22.
Moreno's letter laid out why Wright-Patterson deserves special vigilance. The installation, as the New York Post reported, is home to roughly 38,000 military and civilian employees. It serves as the central hub for U.S. aerospace research, engineering, and intelligence operations, including the Air Force Research Laboratory, the service's primary scientific research organization.
Moreno called it "one of the Department of War's most strategically significant installations" and "a cornerstone of U.S. air and space superiority."
Then he put the point bluntly:
"Yet, one of our greatest foes is attempting to move in nearly next door."
SolarSpace representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company's intended use of the Kettering facility, whether for manufacturing, distribution, office space, or something else, remains unclear from available reporting.
Moreno's alarm did not emerge in a vacuum. In 2024, the New York Post identified at least 19 U.S. military bases located near land purchased by Chinese entities. The list included Fort Liberty in North Carolina, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in Southern California, and MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, alongside Wright-Patterson itself.
Retired Air Force Brigadier General Robert S. Spalding III, whose work has focused on U.S.-China relations, weighed in on those findings at the time.
"It is concerning due to the proximity to strategic locations."
That concern has since moved from commentary to legislation. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott of South Carolina introduced a bill that would mandate enhanced national security reviews of all foreign real estate transactions through CFIUS. The measure would also force the agencies that sit on the panel, including the Pentagon, State Department, Justice Department, and Department of Homeland Security, to update their data annually so military facilities can be freshly designated as sensitive sites. Annual reports to Congress on real estate transactions flagged in those reviews would also be required.
Scott's bill has not yet been voted out of committee. But the South Carolina Republican framed the stakes clearly, saying the Chinese Communist Party's "efforts to infiltrate and surveil all parts of the US national security apparatus requires vigilance from our national security agencies."
The Treasury Department offered a measured response Friday. A spokesperson acknowledged Moreno's outreach but declined to address the SolarSpace matter specifically.
"We appreciate the senator's outreach. However, with respect to this or any other matter, CFIUS reviews are confidential by statute."
That confidentiality is standard. CFIUS, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, is the federal panel that reviews foreign acquisitions of American businesses and real estate for national security risks. Its deliberations are shielded from public disclosure. Whether the panel has already received a formal filing on the SolarSpace transaction, or whether Moreno's letter is the first official prod, remains unknown.
Moreno expressed "grave concerns" and urged Bessent's department to investigate the transaction. His letter frames the issue not as an isolated real estate deal but as part of a broader pattern of Chinese entities positioning themselves near critical American military infrastructure.
Washington has taken steps to address the broader problem, though progress has been uneven. In July 2025, the USDA launched an effort alongside other federal agencies to ban Chinese nationals from purchasing U.S. farmland. That initiative signaled a more aggressive posture on foreign land ownership, but the Kettering case highlights a gap: commercial and industrial real estate near military bases does not always trigger the same automatic scrutiny that agricultural land now receives.
Scott's pending legislation would close that gap, if it passes. Until it does, cases like the SolarSpace transaction depend on individual lawmakers or local organizations raising the flag, exactly as the Dayton Development Coalition did when it referred the deal to Moreno's office.
Several questions remain unanswered. Moreno called SolarSpace a "shell company" for the CCP, but the public record does not yet show what evidence beyond proximity supports that characterization. SolarSpace has not confirmed or denied its plans for the Kettering property. And the current status of the transaction, whether a lease or purchase has been executed or is still pending, is not clear.
What is clear is the geography. A Chinese-headquartered company wants to plant a flag 13 miles from the installation where the United States develops its most advanced aerospace and intelligence capabilities. Whether CFIUS acts on Moreno's request or stays silent behind its statutory wall, the American public deserves to know that someone in Washington noticed, and that the tools to stop deals like this still lag behind the threat.
