South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem on Thursday called for an immediate review of all state investments to determine if taxpayer dollars are being put into companies that pose a threat to national security.
Noem asked the South Dakota Investment Council to complete the review in seven days.
"South Dakotans deserve to know if their taxpayer dollars are being invested to benefit the Chinese Communist Party," Noem said in a press release.
"The Investment Council has ensured that South Dakota has the best-funded pension in the country. But it is not possible to make good deals with bad people. If this review shows that such investment is taking place, then the Investment Council should propose alternative investment options."
Noem last week signed an executive order banning state employees and contractors from accessing TikTok on state-owned devices due to security concerns over the Chinese owners of the video platform.
"South Dakota will have no part in the intelligence gathering operations of nations who hate us," Noem said in a statement. "The Chinese Communist Party uses information that it gathers on TikTok to manipulate the American people, and they gather data off the devices that access the platform."
Noem elaborated on her action during an appearance on Newsmax's "The Record with Greta Van Susteren."
"We've known for years that China has an agenda, that they're an enemy to the United States of America," Noem said. "They've manipulated their currency, stolen IP [addresses] ... and built up their military."
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that a potential agreement between TikTok and the Biden administration faces more delays as national security worries grow.
The agreement had been anticipated by the end of December, but now is expected to be pushed back because of many concerns. WSJ said those concerns included the trust the administration would need to place in the company, and how TikTok might share information regarding the algorithm it uses to determine what videos to show users.
Noem's latest directive came a week after Florida's chief financial officer said his department would pull $2 billion worth of its assets managed by BlackRock Inc. because the world's largest asset management firm was more concerned with wokeness than earning the highest financial return.
Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis told Newsmax on Friday that BlackRock makes financial decisions based on environmental, social, and corporate governance policies.
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