Controversial Chinese firm Gotion Inc. employs 923 members of the Chinese Communist Party and even its CEO is a card-carrying member. That’s the word from an exclusive report by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The data was gleaned from its 2022 ESG report.
Gotion is based in Fremont, California. According to a filing with the Foreign Agents Registration Act, it is “wholly owned and controlled” by Gotion High-Tech Power Energy Co. The major issue is its plans to build a giant new facility in Michigan.
The company is preparing to spend $2.4 billion for the construction of two 550,000 square foot production facilities for electric vehicle batteries. But residents of the intended location in Big Rapids are concerned over having a company with obvious CCP ties on their doorstep.
Of course, Democrats such as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and President Joe Biden have no such qualms. Both have thrown their support behind the project to produce EV components.
How comfortable are you with the Chinese Communist Party sending spies to work at the Gotion plant? An ex-intelligence official stated there’s a ‘100%’ chance that the CCP will take advantage of the Gotion site to spy on the United States.https://t.co/WxCcanCIlC
— MichiganFreedomFund (@MichiganFreedom) August 30, 2023
And in early August, the company announced it moved forward with its purchase of 270 acres in Green Charter Township. Chuck Thelen, vice president of Gotion’s North American Manufacturing division, called the acquisition “a step forward for Gotion Inc. and the region as a whole.”
Residents have raised other concerns than the CCP connections of Gotion’s parent company.
Among them are the environmental impact of the project on the rural area. But it’s the ties to the CCP that worry most, and multiple protests have been held to spotlight opposition to the construction.
Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI) called the development “the wrong direction” for his state. “The simple facts are that Gotion is a subsidiary of a company that pledges allegiance to the CCP and it should not be receiving taxpayer money to build in Michigan.”
He noted that the site is only 100 miles from the military facility where officials from Taiwan are being trained by U.S. forces. This proximity, Moolenaar declared, “is a dangerous double standard that puts national security at risk.”
Plans are for the plant to begin production in 2025. When it is fully staffed by 2031, it is expected to employ 2,350 people.
