BIG RAPIDS, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Up against a backdrop of critics and Green Charter township residents who have come out repeatedly to discourage and protest against the Chinese-linked Gotion development project from moving forward, the project, nevertheless, continues to move forward.

The $2.4 billion, 3-million square-foot EV battery plant in Mecosta County, outside of Big Rapids, has received $175 million of funding from the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve Fund (SOAR), after receiving final approval for the taxpayer incentives by Democratic lawmakers. The project has also received big tax abatements from the county.

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In a recent article brought to you by Michigan News Source, we reported about a soon-to-be signed agreement that has been worked out between Gotion Inc. and Supervisor Jim Chapman on behalf of the township even as opposition to the project continues.

In the latest rebuke of the project and reporting of more uncovered Chinese ties between Gotion and the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), the website The Midwesterner exposed that an English translation of the company’s 2022 ESG (environmental, social, governance) report confirms that the company supports and engages in CCP (Chinese Communist Party) activities. ESG investing, according to Investopedia, refers to a set of standards for a company’s behavior used by socially conscious investors to screen potential investments. The ESG report was put out by Gotion High-Tech, the China-based parent company of Gotion Inc. in Hefei.

Gotion Inc. Vice President of Manufacturing Chuck Thelen has told the press regularly since the project started that the American company has no affiliation with the CCP; however, the ESG report indicates that Li Zhen, who is reported to be Thelen’s boss, is a member of the CCP’s Central Committee and is now president of Gotion Global and Gotion High-Tech.

Even though Gotion’s Foreign Agents Registration Act filing (FARA) claims they are not controlled by any foreign principal, it states, “Gotion, Inc. is wholly owned and controlled by by (sic) Hefei Gotion High-Tech Power Energy Co., Ltd.”

Michigan Senator Lana Theis (R-Brighton) says, “There is no way a wholly owned subsidiary of another company is allowed to have a fundamentally different perspective on the world. The CCP isn’t known for its tolerance of differing viewpoints, after all. Gotion has deep ties to the CCP and has for years, as it plainly acknowledges.”

She goes on to say, “Gotion’s deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party has been a known problem since this project came to light. The company clearly does not shy away from its CCP affiliations, yet those involved with the U.S.-based subsidiary, some members of the Legislature and the Whitmer administration continue to downplay its communist connections. While people with a vested interest in the battery plant’s approval may not care, many more Michiganders do care – especially those living near the site of the proposed battery plant.”

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The ESG report also states that Gotion High-Tech employs 923 members of the CCP, “among which over 50% hold master’s degrees or higher.”

This recently reported information is in addition to the documents that were published months ago that show the companies’ articles of incorporation require Gotion to “set up a Party organization and carry out Party activities in accordance with the Constitution of the Communist Party of China. The Company shall ensure necessary conditions for carrying out Party activities.”

During a public meeting in the spring, Thelen had told lawmakers and the press, “Has the Communist Party penetrated this company? No…Do we have articles of incorporation that require a specific paragraph where you don’t do business in the country of China? Yes. But it’s not a corporate culture.”

In contrast to those words said by Thelen, that corporate culture he referred to is visibly seen in a video uncovered by The Daily Caller showing Gotion High-Tech workers wearing Red Army outfits and pledging to “fight for communism to the end of my life” in company trips to CCP revolutionary memorials.

Opponents of the development project have pushed back against Gotion for many reasons including their CCP-links and it has led to opponents filing recall petitions against many of their local lawmakers.

Chapman, who was instrumental in putting together the deal between Gotion Inc. and the township, has been a target of a recall petition by members of his community. On August 21st, Circuit Judge Tara Hovey ruled that the recall petition language against Chapman met the clarity requirements of the state law so the recall election can go forward. However, in an interview with WCMU Public Radio, Chapman had said about the recall, “That project is a go, period. This vote has absolutely no effect one way or the other on Gotion.”

For their part, which didn’t amount to much, the federal government’s U.S. Department of Treasury’s Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS), has conducted a “review” of the project in which they said that the land in Mecosta County didn’t fall under their jurisdiction – which means there was no investigation into whether it is a security threat.

The federal government’s “green light” to Gotion with their failure to protect the state and country’s national security interests will result in a Chinese-linked development that will be sitting within 60 miles of military armories and 100 miles from Camp Grayling, the country’s largest U.S. National Guard training facility.