On Tuesday, August 27, JD Vance, the Republican candidate for Vice President and a federal senator from Ohio, criticized a controversial proposal at a campaign rally in western Michigan. The plan involved using American taxpayers’ money to subsidize the construction of a Chinese-owned manufacturing plant in the area.
Vance addressed approximately 1,000 attendees at the event, stating that the plan supported by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) posed a threat to national security.
According to registration documents submitted to the Department of Justice, the company in question is named Gotion Inc., specializing in producing electric vehicle batteries and registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The company is headquartered in Fremont, California, and is “wholly owned and controlled” by a company in the eastern Chinese city of Hefei, Gotion High-tech Co. Ltd.
Speaking to the crowd, Vance mentioned that even some members of the Obama administration viewed the Gotion factory as a threat to U.S. national security.
The MEDC is a public-private partnership aimed at creating job opportunities in the state through private investment and tax incentives.
At the rally, Vance and some attendees expressed concerns about the project for economic and security reasons.
Local farm owner Lori Brock, who hosted the event at her equestrian center in Green Charter Township, stated that Gotion initially promised high salaries for employees but later changed the terms after the project was approved.
“We were told they would pay an average salary of $62,000,” Brock noted, adding that reports later indicated the company would offer a wage of $24.50 per hour, resulting in an annual shortfall of approximately $11,000.
Brock expressed frustration over the declining wages and lack of accountability within the project.
Michigan Republican Party chairman Pete Hoekstra predicted that the efforts opposing the project would be successful and mentioned that while progress had been made over the past 17 months, the factory would not be built.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers stated, “This will be the first victory in kicking China (CCP) out of America.”
Tom Carson, a 68-year-old farmer from Fremont and a participant at the rally, shared concerns about the loss of farmland due to the project, estimating roughly 2,000 acres of agricultural land would be affected.
Others raised concerns about the environmental impact and the potential shift of job opportunities in the American automobile industry to Chinese companies.
While the project received approval last year, strong opposition from local residents led to the removal of five out of seven members of the Green Charter Township board. The newly formed board subsequently revoked the project’s approval.
However, this might not be enough to halt the project’s implementation.
Chuck Thelen, vice president responsible for North American operations at Gotion High-tech, stated that while the company welcomed the legal review of the town government’s obligations by the new board, agreements had already been signed and the town government must abide by them.
In June of this year, five Republican lawmakers urged the Department of Homeland Security to immediately blacklist two major Chinese battery companies, CATL and Gotion High-tech, citing their supply chains’ links to forced labor supported by the Chinese government and ongoing crimes against the Uyghur population.
According to Politico magazine, in August 2023, Thelen stated, “The rumors you hear about us bringing communism to North America are purely fearmongering and have no basis in reality.”
The Epoch Times has reached out to Gotion and Thelen for comments but has not received a response.