EXCLUSIVE: Before a Chinese electric vehicle battery manufacturer moved forward with its controversial projects in Michigan and Illinois, the firm approached a small town in Alabama that rejected the plan over national security concerns, Fox News Digital has learned. The California-based firm Gotion Inc.
Unlike other states, why do the governors of Michigan and Illinois spend their taxpayers' money bringing in companies deeply tied to the Chinese Communist Party into their states? Don’t they understand the clear and present danger this totalitarian regime presents? It’s a bipartisan issue,' former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Cella, the co-founder of the Michigan-China Economic and Security Review Group, told Fox News Digital.
Gotion High-Tech's corporate bylaws say the company is required to 'carry out Party activities in accordance with the Constitution of the Communist Party of China.' The company's 2022 ESG report also states Gotion High-Tech 'carried out thematic education activities such as the study of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, red theme education, and love for students.' And earlier this year, a Michigan law firm quietly registered Gotion Inc.
After Gotion's nationwide search for a location to build its EV battery factory, in October 2022, the company announced its $2.4 billion investment to build the component factory in Big Rapids Michigan. Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer applauded the announcement and said it would 'shore up our status as the global hub of mobility and electrification.' Then, in September, Gotion announced a separate $2 billion battery cell facility set for Manteno, Illinois, alongside Democratic Gov.