Chinese aircraft big in Ron’s backyard

Republican presidential candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has touted his tough stance toward China, stayed quiet when a subsidiary of a US-sanctioned Chinese company expanded fewer than 15 miles away from a Florida military base during his time as governor.

On the campaign trail, DeSantis, 45, has vowed to “reorient” US foreign policy and signed legislation preventing Chinese Communist Party affiliates from purchasing land near military bases.

Cirrus Aircraft — a subsidiary of Aviation Industry Corp. (AVIC) of China — opened two new locations in central Florida in 2022.

One of those was at the Orlando Executive Airport, 12.7 miles away from the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division.

AVIC makes fighter jets, helicopters and drones for the Chinese military.

In 2020, the US deemed AVIC to be a possible national security threat and imposed sanctions on the company for its ties to Beijing’s People’s Liberation Army.

DeSantis said nothing publicly about the expansion of Cirrus at the time — and in February he delivered remarks in front of a Cirrus SR22 single-engine plane while criticizing President Biden’s response to the Chinese spy balloon fiasco.

The state of Florida has not provided any taxpayer subsidies or other incentives to Cirrus or its parent company.