Residents of a Michigan county are up in arms over the possibility of having a neighbor with questionable ties. A company with a clear allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party might be setting up shop in the state, and controversy is already brewing even though no deal has been finalized yet. The question on everyone’s mind is: Will the company bring China’s government to Michigan?
Gotion, Inc.’s ambitious $2.3 billion electric vehicle battery materials processing plant, dubbed “Project Elephant,” has encountered a mounting wave of resistance. The proposed plant, which is set to be built in Mecosta County, Michigan, has faced its latest setback following revelations that Gotion’s bylaws require the company to “perform its duties in accordance with the Constitution of the Communist Party of China and other Party Regulations,” according to the Midwesterner.
The bylaws require Gotion to “Ensure and supervise the implementation of the Party’s guidelines, principles and policies in the Company, and implement major strategic decisions of the CPC (Communist Party of China) Central Committee and the State Council as well as relevant important work arrangements of the Party organization at the higher level.”
Last fall, Gotion secured commitments of $1.14 billion from the state and local government for the Big Rapids facility, which the company claims will generate 2,350 jobs. The Vice President of North American Manufacturing, Chuck Thelen, informed the Michigan Senate Appropriations Committee that construction is set to begin in Q2 of this year, with production anticipated to start in Q2 of 2025.
The committee recently met to discuss whether to approve a $175 million taxpayer-funded Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve appropriation. Meanwhile, Big Rapids Township has called for a federal review of Gotion’s proposal, citing concerns over Chinese ownership. Rather than address the township’s concerns, Gotion has changed its planned location to a 408-acre site in Mecosta County’s Green Township.
The company’s founder, Li Zhen, is a former government employee and participant in the local communist government leadership. Moomoo Technologies reports that Zhen was “a researcher at the Economic Research Center of the Hefei Municipal Government” and a “delegate to the 13th, 14th, and 15th sessions of the Hefei Municipal People’s Congress.” A 1986 Central Intelligence Agency briefing on “Provincial Organizations” released to the public in 2011 contained the names of that era’s leaders of the Hefei Municipal People’s Congress.
Former gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon argued that a CCP-linked business should not be allowed to operate in Michigan, and criticized Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for allowing the company to come to the state.
(Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
“In the company by-laws that are on the company website, it clearly states that when they get to Michigan, they have to have a CCP organization on site, a Chinese Communist Party organization on site, a propaganda arm of the CCP, right in the center of the country in Michigan,” she explained on Tucker Carlson Tonight.
According to Dixon, the battery plant is “nowhere near” any major automobile manufacturers, and she questioned what the company would be doing. She speculated that Gotion was also bringing in 250-300 Chinese nationals to fill some of the jobs and planned to house them at a local university.
More than 100 residents of Green Charter Township and Big Rapids showed up to a March 14 board meeting to voice concerns over the presence of the Chinese-owned company. One resident, who identified himself as an Iraq War veteran, expressed his frustration: “The thing that drives me the most crazy about this is that this is a Chinese-owned company. A Chinese-owned company is a communist company. Why would you bring a communist company to Big Rapids, Michigan, when we have troops mobilizing right now to fight China?”
This news comes as at least 11 states are considering legislation that would bar China from owning farmland. Reuters reported:
“At least 11 state legislatures also are considering measures to address the concern. That includes Montana and North Dakota, where the U.S. Air Force recently warned that a $700 million corn mill proposed near a military base by the American subsidiary of a Chinese company would risk national security.”
Sen. John Tester (D-MT) told Reuters that “we don’t want folks from China owning our farmland” because “it goes against food security and it goes against national security.”
The notion that a company with close ties to the Chinese Communist Party might find a home in the US has understandably raised quite a few eyebrows. This could lead to other such companies being placed under increased scrutiny as the nation considers ways to prevent the Chinese government from expanding its already considerable foothold in the United States.