Mysterious Chinese City to Be Built in Catskill Mountains: A Foothold for the Chinese Government?

Steven Ahle / 10 hours ago

Chinese investors are proposing building a multi billion Chinese themed city within the Catskill Mountains in New York State.   Some are worried that the investors are a stalking horse from the Chinese government.  The project would be a self contained city like New York City’s Chinatown, only bigger and much more remote.  The location is where Thompson, Ny now stands.
A spokesman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services says the project has not yet been approved, but it is being considered.  The project would include schools, stores and housing.
The project is much larger than the small enclaves found min cities like Boston, New York, and San Francisco.  “China City of America” is a 600 acre (about 1 1/5 square miles) and will include a university and will have offices representing every province in China.  There are some concerns about what the real goal of this city are.  Even once it gets okayed by the federal government, it will need approval by the state and local governments.
The Center for Immigration Studies is against the project and they are worried that the Chinese government could be backing the project and use it to get operatives into the country under the EB-5 Visa program.  The EB-5 program gives green cards and permanent resident status to individuals who invest $500,000 in this country.  A two billion dollar project would be enough to move 4,000 agents into the country.
A detailed report authored by David North a fellow at the group writes that many have said that the investor’s group is merely a front for the Chinese Communist Government.
From Fox News:
“It’s a perfect storm of problems,” North told FoxNews.com, citing what he called dubious job creation claims by the promoters as well as national security concerns. North noted that the developers claim 20 percent of the funding would come from U.S. taxpayers, which he said was a “pipe dream.” 
A review by FoxNews.com of the China City Regional Center’s website could not confirm such a claim involving U.S. taxpayer money, though there is little English on the site, which is affiliated with a Florida law firm. No one at the law firm could be reached for comment.
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Local officials refused to comment to Fox News but there is a video of the local government discussing the mproject and it’s problems: