Nuclear Command Base Bordering Chinese-Owned Golf Courses Sparks Security Alarm

A Chinese intelligence-linked businessman owns two golf courses flanking a U.S. Air Force base responsible for critical components of America’s nuclear triad, raising urgent national security concerns. The installation, which oversees all U.S. intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear-capable bombers, is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base near Shreveport.

The base is bordered to the north and south by The Golf Club at StoneBridge and Olde Oaks Golf Club, a combined 340-acre property owned since 2013 by Eugene Ji, a Chinese American businessman with longstanding ties to the Chinese Communist Party. Ji, whose Chinese name is Ji Yueqin, has held multiple positions connected to China’s United Front Work Department—a CCP intelligence and influence body designed to shape foreign opinion and access sensitive information—according to university records and Louisiana business filings.

Ji remains listed as an overseas committee member of the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, a United Front-affiliated organization, in Chinese government and academic announcements as recently as 2024. The House Select Committee on the CCP has described the United Front as a blend of influence operations and intelligence activities aimed at advancing Beijing’s strategic interests abroad.

Ji’s daughter, who serves as general manager of both golf courses, declined to comment on her father’s background or affiliations, stating that the matters were “unrelated” to golf operations. Chinese state media and Ji’s 2014 autobiography describe the properties as intended for networking between Chinese and American business leaders and as venues for “people-to-people diplomacy,” including hosting U.S. officials.

National security experts and lawmakers warn that Ji’s ownership of land adjacent to a critical nuclear command base poses significant risks, even without publicly reported espionage incidents. Jacqueline Deal, an advisory board member at the counter-CCP nonprofit State Armor, stated: “For the price of two apparently poorly maintained courses, the CCP and the People’s Liberation Army have likely secured an intelligence and sabotage bonanza.”

Rep. John Moolenaar, chair of the House Select Committee on the CCP, cautioned that China-linked entities are increasingly acquiring land near sensitive U.S. military installations, adding: “The time for sleepwalking past China’s spending spree on strategically vital land across the U.S. needs to end.” Former Air Force intelligence analyst L.J. Eads noted United Front operations deliberately appear benign while embedding CCP influence within communities: “This isn’t a businessman who happens to own a golf course. This is a CCP political actor highlighted in Chinese government publications.”