A Chinese company developing a taxpayer-funded electric vehicle battery facility in Michigan released reports and video footage of its employees wearing what appear to be Red Army uniforms and pledging allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Gotion High-Tech, the parent company of Gotion Inc. based in Hefei, China, organized multiple company trips in 2021 to CCP revolutionary memorials in Anhui province, China, according to records first reported by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
During the trips, Gotion High-Tech workers wore Red Army uniforms and pledged to “fight for communism until the end of my life.”
“I volunteer to join the CCP, uphold the Party platform, observe the provisions of the Party statutes, perform the duties of a member, carry out Party decisions, strictly observe Party discipline, be loyal to the Party, work hard, “Fight for communism as long as I live, be ready at all times to sacrifice everything for the Party and the people, and never betray the Party,” employees chanted during a trip to the China Revolutionary Memorial Hall in July 2021 , images translated by the DCNF. presented.
A month later, the company took a trip to Dabie Mountain to commemorate the CCP’s Long March, a historic march that led to the rise of Chinese dictator Mao Zedong in early 1935.
Gotion High-Tech is the parent company of Gotion Inc. based in Hefei, China. Pictured is Chinese President Xi Jinping.EyePress News/Shutterstock
The revelation that Gotion’s parent company organized CCP trips for its employees and made partisan promises comes as its Michigan project continues to face increased scrutiny from locals, national security experts and Republican lawmakers.
Opponents of the project have pointed to the company’s loyalty to the Chinese government and have often pointed to Gotion High-Tech’s corporate bylaws, which state that the company must “carry out Party activities in accordance with the Constitution of the Communist Party of China”.
The company’s 2022 ESG report states that Gotion High-Tech “carried out thematic educational activities such as the study of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, red-themed education and love for students,” The Midwesterner reported.
During Gotion company trips, Gotion High-Tech workers wore Red Army costumes and vowed to “fight for communism until the end of my life”.
And earlier this year, Gotion quietly registered as a Chinese foreign director, according to FARA documents reviewed by Fox News Digital.
“Subnational incursions are underway,” former US ambassador Joseph Cella, co-founder of the Michigan-China Economic and Security Review Group, previously told Fox News Digital.
“China is on the hunt,” he continued. “The Chinese Communist Party is on the hunt. They are looking to get these open doors into action in the states. And they have exercised great dominance. Just look at Gotion or CATL: textbook examples of this influence operation.”
During these retreats, Gotion High-Tech hosted themed events aligned with communist ideas. LinkedIn
In April, Cella and fellow former U.S. ambassador Peter Hoekstra, who helped found the Michigan-China Economic and Security Review Group, asked the Justice Department to open a federal investigation into possible violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. related to the silence of five years. agreements signed by state officials as part of the Gotion negotiations.
Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Gotion would invest $2.4 billion to build two 550,000-square-foot manufacturing plants along with other support facilities spanning 260 acres in northern Michigan. She applauded the proposal in her late 2022 announcement, saying it would bolster Michigan’s status as a “global center for mobility and electrification.”
Then, earlier this year, the Michigan State Senate Appropriations Committee gave the final seal of approval to give Gotion $175 million in direct taxpayer funding to help build the facility.
In a 10-9 vote, some Democrats joined all Republicans on the panel in voting against the funding, while only Democrats, including the committee chairwoman, voted in favor.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced that Gotion plans to invest $2.4 billion to build manufacturing facilities in northern Michigan. PA
“I’m angry. I’m angry that this vote was put on the agenda today with as little information as possible so that people like me didn’t know what was happening,” Marjorie Steele, a local resident, said during the hearing. “I’m angry that You, our elected officials, have ignored my community’s pleas to postpone this vote until some semblance of due diligence can be performed.”
“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 problem. Townships and counties across the state are coming together, sharing resources, labor, and grassroots activism. Your votes today, Senators, are lines drawn in the sand.”
Gotion announced in August that it had acquired 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: vtt.edu.vn