A Chinese company developing a taxpayer-funded electric vehicle battery facility in Michigan published reports and video footage of its workers wearing Red Army uniforms and pledging allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Gotion High-Tech — Hefei, the parent company of Gotion Inc. based in China — organized several company visits in 2021 to the CCP’s revolutionary memorial in China’s Anhui Province, according to records first reported by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
During the trip, Gotion High-Tech workers wore Red Army uniforms and pledged to “fight for communism until the end of my life.”
“I voluntarily join the CCP, uphold the Party’s foundation, abide by the provisions of the Party’s bylaws, carry out the duties of a member, implement the Party’s decisions, strictly abide by the Party’s discipline, be loyal to the Party, work hard, to fight for communism as long as I live, ready at every time to sacrifice everything for the Party and the people and never betray the Party,” chanted workers during a visit to the Memorial Hall of the Chinese Revolution in July 2021, footage translated by DCNF showed.
A month later, the company toured Mount Dabie to commemorate the CCP’s Long March, the historic march that led to the emergence of Chinese dictator Mao Zedong in early 1935.
Gotion High-Tech is a Hefei, China-based parent company of Gotion Inc. Pictured here is Chinese President Xi Jinping.EyePress News/Shutterstock
The revelation that Gotion’s parent company organized CCP tours for its employees and ran party pledges comes as its Michigan project continues to face heightened scrutiny from local residents, national security experts and Republican lawmakers.
Opponents of the project have expressed the company’s loyalty to the Chinese government and often refer to Gotion High-Tech’s corporate bylaws, which state that 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 states Gotion High-Tech “conducts themed educational activities such as the study of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, red theme education and love for students,” The Midwesterner reported.
During the Gotion company’s trip, Gotion High-Tech employees wore Red Army uniforms and pledged to “fight for communism until the end of my life.” Gotion High-Tech
And earlier this year Gotion quietly registered as a Chinese foreign principal, according to FARA filings reviewed by Fox News Digital.
“Subnational attacks are happening,” former US Ambassador Joseph Cella, co-founder of the Michigan-China Economic and Security Study Group, previously told Fox News Digital.
“China is hunting,” he continued. “The Chinese Communist Party is hunting. They’re looking for these open doors to kick in, in the states. And they have brought great influence. You only have to look at Gotion or CATL — textbook examples of this influence operation.”
During this retreat, Gotion High-Tech organized themed events aligned with communist ideas. LinkedIn
In April, Cella and fellow former US Ambassador Peter Hoekstra, who helped found the Michigan-China Economic and Security Study Group, asked the Justice Department to open a federal investigation into potential Foreign Agents Registration Act violations related to the five-year silence. an agreement signed by state officials as part of the Gotion negotiations.
Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced that Gotion will invest $2.4 billion to build two 550,000-square-foot production plants along with other support facilities covering 260 acres in northern Michigan. He praised the proposal in a late 2022 announcement, saying it would support Michigan’s status as a “global mobility and electrification hub.”
Then, earlier this year, the Michigan state Senate Appropriations Committee gave its final stamp of approval to give Gotion $175 million in direct taxpayer funding to help build the facility.
In the 10-9 vote, several Democrats joined every Republican on the panel in voting against funding, while only Democrats, including the committee’s chairman, voted in favor.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced that Gotion plans to invest $2.4 billion to build a production plant in Northern Michigan. AP
“I’m angry. I’m angry that this vote was put on the agenda today with as little information as possible so people like me don’t know it’s happening,” said Marjorie Steele, a local resident, during the hearing. “I’m angry because of you, our elected officials , has ignored my community pleas to table this vote until some due diligence can be done.”
“I can promise you that we will not stop at the local level,” he added. “We are tired of being abused, and we are not alone. This is not just a Mecosta County issue. Municipalities and counties across the state are coming together, sharing resources, manpower and grassroots activism. Your vote today, senator, is a line drawn in the sand.
Gotion announced in August that it had scooped up 270 acres of land in Green Charter Township, Michigan, for the project.
Some of the land purchased is zoned for agricultural or residential use, while the majority is zoned for industrial use.
Neither Gotion nor Whitmer’s office responded to requests for comment by the time of publication.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
