By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
A Chinese firm’s purchase of 1,400 acres of land in Gulf Hammock for the quarantine and breeding of imported wild monkeys is raising questions about the military backgrounds of the founders of the company, according to The Epoch Times, a national online and print newspaper.
Zhou Zhiwen and Feng Yuxia, the couple who founded JOINN Laboratories, both graduated from China’s Academy of Medical Sciences in 1989 and 1992 respectively. The school is the Chinese military’s top medical institute, which has been added to a U.S. trade blacklist for supplying biotechnology to the Chinese military.
“After graduating, both Zhou and Feng went on to work as researchers at the academy before establishing their business venture, according to Chinese media reports. Zuo Conglin, a board member for JOINN Laboratories, also graduated from the same academy,” The Epoch Times story said.
U.S. Rep. Scott Franklin, R-Florida, was quoted in the story as saying these links to the Chinese Communist Party should raise red flags and the ties of the two scientists to the Chinese Communist Party is attracting scrutiny.
The Epoch Times story went on to quote Franklin, who represents the 15th Congressional District and serves on the House Armed Services Subcommittee for Intelligence and Special Operations as saying the Biden administration is allowing Chinese Communist Party affiliated companies to buy up American land and that is unacceptable. He said if the President won’t put his foot down, Congress will.
Efforts by Spotlight to contact Franklin for comment failed. His Press Secretary also didn’t return calls. Franklin’s district office is in Lakeland.
Realtor Dusty Calderon of Saunders Ralston Dantzler Real Estate in Lakeland brokered the $5.5 million sale of 1,400 acres of land from L&T Cattle and Timber, managed by Steven D. Lamb and Justin Lamb of Crystal River, to JOINN Laboratories. Calderon told Levy County government officials the purpose of the land purchase was to establish a monkey quarantine and breeding facility in Gulf Hammock.
County officials said they wouldn’t view any request by JOINN Laboratories to rezone the land to industrial in a favorable light due to incompatibility with surrounding land uses and spot zoning. The company has yet to contact Levy County with a request to rezone the property.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has publicly promised to introduce legislation in the spring legislative session that would address threats from foreign countries like China, who are hostile to U.S. interests, from purchasing land near military bases in Florida, purchasing agricultural property in the state or collecting data from Americans living in the state.
The U.S. Coast Guard Station in Yankeetown is located about 10-12 miles from the proposed monkey facility if a straight line is drawn between the two locations. The monkey facility is about 20 miles from the decommissioned Crystal River nuclear power plant. The nuke plant site stores radioactive waste from plant operations. A plan has been approved to remove the radioactive waste over the next four or five years. Duke Energy owns the plant.
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Public Information Regarding Sale of Land for Monkey Lab
As a matter of public information for our Spotlight readers, L &T Cattle & Timber, LLC. a Crystal River, Florida company, sold the 1,400-acre monkey lab property in Gulf Hammock to JOINN Laboratories, CA Inc, a California company. The two managers of L&T Cattle and Timber, Steven D. Lamb and Justin Lamb, sold the property for $5.5 million. Dusty Calderon of Saunders Ralston Danzler Real Estate in Lakeland, FL, brokered the deal. The special warranty deed was recorded on Aug. 4, 2022, in Levy County Circuit Court.
Phone number for the real estate company is 407-459-7564; Email: info@svnsaunders.com
Enterprise reporting by Terry Witt October 3, 2022; Posted October 3, 2022
