China-linked US$2.3 billion battery factory in Michigan raises community alarm
A China-linked project eligible for almost US$1.1 billion in state incentives has become a flashpoint between some concerned residents and local officials in a small rural community in Michigan.
Hundreds picketed outside a local university on Wednesday to oppose a publicly owned Chinese company from setting up a battery plant in their neighbourhood in Green Charter Township in the city of Big Rapids.
Last July the community learned that it had been chosen by Gotion Inc for a US$2.3 billion factory to make components used in lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles.
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The announcement came with a promise of creating more than 2,000 jobs in the next eight to 10 years. The chairman of the township and his board of trustees voted unanimously in December to support the investment. Of the US$1.1 billion in state incentives, US$907 million would come in the form of tax breaks.
But some residents and state politicians have raised questions about the company's links to the Chinese Communist Party and its intentions to use the facility to promote communism.
Gotion Inc is an American subsidiary of publicly owned Gotion High-tech, which is the fourth-biggest EV battery maker in China by sales volume. The company supplies its lithium-iron phosphate batteries to auto giants like Volkswagen and Tata Group.
It originally planned to build two plants - another in an adjoining township - but after public backlash there, it decided to go with one facility in Green Charter Township.
"It is a big issue. Number one: environment and the connection to China", said Rhonda Lang, a resident of Big Rapids speaking outside Ferris State University on Wednesday.
"It's not about not having new jobs in the community. It's about the community having a voice and what those jobs are."
The demonstration coincided with a virtual discussion hosted by local leaders. For safety reasons, the event was changed from in-person to online.
During the webinar, Chuck Thelen, Gotion's vice-president of North American operations, responded to the concerns, stressing "there is no communist plot to make Big Rapids a centre to spread communism".
The "No Gotion Protest" was joined by Michigan state representative Angela Rigas. "The people of this area feel like their local government is not listening to them," the Republican told a local news outlet. "So, we're here today to support them to help them use their voice."
Tudor Dixon, Michigan's 2022 Republican candidate for governor, spoke last week to Fox News on the issue. She described Gotion's proposed plant as "one square mile of CCP in the centre of Michigan" and asserted the company would bring thousands of workers from China to work at the plant.
Thelen dismissed the claims as "totally false". He said people were being "force- fed a big fear sandwich", adding that only about 25 to 30 people would come from China for "training purposes" and they would leave within a year.
This is not the first time a US-based subsidiary of a Chinese company has faced heated local opposition. As Sino-US ties have plunged to historically low levels not seen since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1978, Chinese investment has come under heavy scrutiny by the American general public and politicians.
In February, Fufeng USA, an American arm of Chinese agribusiness giant Fufeng, was forced out of a proposed corn-milling facility in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
The project faced months of federal review and public protests owing to its Chinese ownership and proximity to an American air force base, but was terminated hours after the US Air Force said in a statement that the plant presented a "significant threat to national security".
Thelen of Gotion said on Wednesday that over the past 2½ months the company had put together a "voluntary self-declaration" to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), an inter-agency federal panel charged with investigating transactions involving foreign investments. The panel will take at least 45 days to share its findings.
Meanwhile, the webinar appeared to do little to reassure concerned residents, as more public protests against the proposed project were being planned for the coming weeks.
Gotion expected to begin construction in July, with production slated for 2025. In light of the recently voiced opposition, however, whether the company can fulfil its timeline remains an open question.
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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