After residents expressed concern about Gotion Inc. having ties to the Chinese communist regime, the newly replaced Green Charter Township Board in Michigan has voted to rescind support for a planned Gotion battery plant.
On Nov. 7, a recall election of the entire township board was held amidst backlash against the battery plant in Green Charter Township.
Five of the seven officials were replaced. Enough signatures were collected to recall all seven board members over their support of Gotion and the plant, but two members resigned, citing stress.
Gotion Inc.—a U.S. subsidiary of Gotion High-Tech, a Chinese battery manufacturer—first made headlines in April 2023 when it began plans to build a battery plant in Green Charter Township. It garnered around $1 billion in U.S. taxpayer support for the factory, at an overall cost of $2.4 billion.
Many residents had concerns about the battery plant, including its potential communist ties and its 100-mile proximity to Camp Grayling, where the National Michigan guard trains the Taiwan military.
“This is Gotion High-Tech, a communist Chinese company wiggling their way into our country doing this. They don’t follow our rules. They are America’s enemy right now,” Green Charter Township resident Ormand Hook told News Nation.
The previous Green Charter Township board unanimously voted in support of a property tax abatement plan that would help build the battery plant.
Jason Kruse, who led a movement to oust the local government, was elected Green Charter Township’s new supervisor.
“We just can’t figure out why some of these people stand in favor of something like this with the battery plant Gotion,” Mr. Kruse told On Balance host Leland Vittert in November, as reported by News Nation. “We’re ready to fight or keep fighting.”
On Nov. 14, the new board voted to rescind the resolution extending the city’s water system to the battery plant, according to UpNorthLive.
The board also rescinded a resolution supporting the battery plant on Dec. 3, according to Big Rapids News.
Knowing what voters expect of him, Mr. Kruse told Bridge Michigan, “I’m elected to be a no-Gotion guy.”
While acknowledging that some of the agreements made by the previous board might not be able to be broken, the board wants to look at all options, 9&10 News reported.
“If something can be done to enhance those agreements or contracts for the betterment of Green Charter Township residents, we’re interested in doing that,” said Mr. Kruse, according to 9&10 News.
9&10 News reported that Gotion’s North American Manufacturing Vice President Chuck Thelen said the company welcomes the new board researching the township’s legal obligations.
“The agreements were made with the township, and the township will be required to adhere to the agreements,” Mr. Thelen added.
He announced that Gotion is moving full steam ahead with the EV battery plant project while figuring out what those agreements will look like with the new township board.
“We have, as you can imagine, a very large investment already in place, and that investment will continue as we’ve already promised the state. We will meet our milestones; we will meet our scope,” Mr. Thelen added.
Both Mr. Kruse and Mr. Thelen confirmed they had an introductory meeting in which they got to know each other and plan out a path moving forward, 9&10 News reported.
Gotion High-Tech reportedly took staff on multiple trips to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) revolution memorials in Anhui Province, China, in the summer of 2021. Videos published to their website show Gotion employees pledging to “fight for communism to the end” and wearing what appear to be red army uniforms, in videos first reported by the Daily Caller.
During a trip to China’s Revolutionary Memorial Hall in July 2021, employees chanted that they volunteered to join the CCP, “be loyal to the Party,” fight for communism as long as they live, and “be ready at all times to sacrifice everything for the Party and people and never betray the Party.”
A month later, the company took a second trip to Dabie Mountain to commemorate the CCP’s long march, a retreat by communist forces in the 1930s still celebrated by the CCP as a military victory. Videos showed them wearing red army uniforms and singing pro-communist songs.
In a statement to Fox News, a Gotion spokesperson said its parent company didn’t fund the trips.
“Gotion High-Tech employees in China are involved with many clubs, including biking and hiking clubs, and one politically affiliated club,” the official said. “None of these clubs are financed by Gotion High-Tech, and some employees individually paid for field trips to historical sites in China out of their own pockets.”
“Gotion Inc. is headquartered in Fremont, California, and is not supervised, directed, controlled, or financed by any foreign government or foreign political party,” the spokesperson added.
Gotion told News Nation: “We are a multinational company and don’t believe in political posturing and are still committed to bringing thousands of jobs to the state of Michigan.”
Mr. Thelen put out a statement in August saying, “Within the Gotion Inc North America organization … there is no CCP organization influence. No person on the leadership team is a CCP member. There is no CCP organization or influence to the NA operation. There is not a slim chance of influence of any political party while we follow regional and federal regulations and requirements within all of our North America facilities that are in operation since 2015.”
He added, “The rumors that you’ve heard about us bringing communism to North America are just flat-out fear-mongering and really have nothing based in reality.”
Gotion Inc. recently registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, according to the registration document it submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The document states that Gotion Inc. is “wholly owned and controlled” by Gotion High-Tech Co. Ltd., which is based near Hefei, a city in eastern China.
The document also states that Gotion Inc. is not “supervised,” “directed,” or “financed” by “a foreign government, foreign political party, or other foreign principal.”
When asked whether the “foreign principal,” meaning Gotion Inc., will engage in “political activities” in the document, Gotion answered “Yes.”
Gotion High-Tech’s 2022 ESG report, according to the Trumpet, states that it employs 923 Communist Party members.
A translation of the report by The Midwesterner reads: “In order to celebrate the 101st anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, welcome the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and further play the leading role in party building work, the company’s party committee will organize in 2022.”
