Most Congress focuses on bans China Rep. Pat Harrigan (RN.C.
A bill released this week by Harrigan, the Military Devices Retail Security Act of 2025, will ban any China, North Korea, Iran or Russian ownership Operate from a military base.
“This is actually the situation where the CCP operates on our military base. It’s even more crazier [than foreign land purchases],” Harrigan told Fox News Numbers.
In June 2020, vitamin retailer GNC filed for bankruptcy and was fully acquired by some state-owned Chinese company Harbin Pharmaceuticals. Harbin previously acquired a 40% stake in GNC in 2018.
Rep. Pat Harrigan has released a new bill that would prohibit rival-owned companies from operating at bases in the United States. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
In 2019, GNC agreed to combine its manufacturing industry with International Vitamins Corporation (IVC), which owns a consortium of Chinese investors.
Founded in Pittsburgh, the company has been operating at U.S. bases for years at the time of sale and has overlooked the potential for Chinese surveillance at military bases.
Now, about 85 GNC stores operate on us Military base. They operate under what is called a “long-term offer” contract, meaning they are operated, staffed and provided by GNC.
“This is a truly mature goal of intelligence gathering,” Harrigan said. “It’s not a joke about defending our military integrity and ensuring that foreign opponents who actively seek to undermine ours have no chance to do this from within our military base.”
GNC operates approximately 85 health stores on its U.S. base. (Reuters/Jessica Dinapoli)
“You know who these people are, the customers you have, their purchasing habits. You can access sensitive health information based on the type of product they buy,” he said.
Harrigan said the store can identify people with vulnerability by tracking frequent purchases of testosterone, sleep AIDS or anxiety supplements. He added that it can also monitor deployment cycles based on changes in how it is purchased.
Harrigan warned that GNC’s access could even allow adversaries to introduce prohibited or harmful substances (or counterfeit products) to reduce military readiness.
The United States bans romantic and sexual relations with Chinese citizens in China
Harrigan said the store also poses potential cyber risks, noting that in-store WiFi and mobile data tracking can reveal the troop geographical location. He warned that loyalty applications and promotional materials could be used to embed malicious links or software.
Fox News Digital contacted GNC for comments, but received no response before posting.
Legislators have introduced dozens of bills aimed at stopping China from buying U.S. land near sensitive military sites – a movement that has become increasingly urgent after Chinese food producer Fufeng Group purchased 370 acres near North Dakota air base in 2022.
As of last year, China had about 350,000 acres of farmland in 27 states, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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GNC Holdings appears in the 2023 and 2024 reward management system, the federal registry of government contractors, although registration is not required due to its long-term preferential contracts.
The company did not disclose its China ownership on its website and registered it expired in October 2024.
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As a U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued an alert in 2020 about the sale of GNC to Harbin, warning that customers’ personal data could be handed over to the Chinese Communist Party. He urged the Ministry of Finance to launch a national security review.
Despite these concerns, bankruptcy judge Karen Owens approved $770 million in sales. Since then, GNC has increased its renewed interest in health and wellness to expand its footprint to more than 4,000 stores and 2,000 international stores in the U.S., according to the company’s website.
