The Biden administration is permitting Gotion, a Chinese electric vehicle battery company, to move forward with the construction of a new plant in Michigan with $175 million in direct taxpayer funding, according to Fox News.
Gotion – a subsidiary of parent company Gotion High-Tech – had previously halted development of the Mecosta County battery plant earlier this year and requested a federal review, after intense criticism about the company’s ties to China and concern from local residents, Fox reported.
On Tuesday, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) decided that the proposed plant was not a covered real estate purchase under the Defense Prohibition Act, which ultimately deemed the company a non-threat to national security.
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Following the CFIUS report, Gotion said in a statement that it “would continue to move forward with due diligence” on the Chinese-owned project.
“We voluntarily submitted all the needed documents to the U.S. Department of Treasury Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to be transparent and accountable and received the response that it is not a covered transaction,” said Gotion’s VP of North American operations Chuck Thelen, according to Fox.
Gotion’s battery plant will cost $2.4 billion to build, and the company will receive $175 million in direct taxpayer money to help fund its construction. Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has commended the proposed project and said it will shore up the state’s status as the “global hub of mobility and electrification,” Fox reported.
Some Michigan residents have stated they feel “angry” with Democratic lawmakers for approving this decision and feel concerned about communist influence coming to their state. Gotion High-Tech’s corporate bylaws state that the company must operate under the constitution of the Chinese Communist Party.
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“The Party Committee of the Company shall perform its duties in accordance with the Constitution of the Communist Party of China and other Party regulations,” state the bylaws.
“I think that any Chinese communist plant buying up 700 acres of Michigan land is a concern to all citizens throughout the state,” said Michigan resident Cheryl Vitito during a Michigan Senate committee hearing, according to Fox. “We don’t want the CCP here by way of the Gotion plant as they have no regard for the value and dignity of human life.”
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