A U.S. electric vehicle battery manufacturer with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has suspended its permit application to build a plant near a Michigan National Guard base following fierce opposition.
Chuck Thelen, CEO of Gotion Inc. — a “wholly owned and controlled” subsidiary of Chinese company Hefei Gotion High-Tech Power Energy Co. Ltd. (Gotion High-Tech) — said the decision stemmed from the firm’s ongoing breach of contract lawsuit against Green Charter Township, according to the Big Rapids Pioneer. The township soured on the $2.4 billion project in November 2023 after voters recalled numerous officials following a series of reports revealing Gotion and its Chinese parent company’s ties to the CCP.
“I applaud the people of Mecosta County as Gotion pauses their permitting process, but their fight is not over,” Republican Michigan Rep. John Moolenaar, chair of the House Select Committee on the CCP, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Gotion must announce it will finally listen to the people, and end its projects for good.”
[…]
Questions about Gotion’s CCP-ties began to arise around March 2023 when The Midwesterner reported Gotion High-Tech’s “Articles of Association” required the firm to establish a “Party organization and carry out Party activities in accordance with the Constitution of the Communist Party of China.”
[…]
The House Select Committee on the CCP investigated Gotion High-Tech in 2024 and “found their supply chains are reliant on forced labor as part of the CCP’s ongoing genocide of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang Province,” Mooleenaar told the DCNF.
[…]
Meanwhile, Michigan residents — like Joseph Cella, the director of the Michigan-China Economic and Security Review Group — engaged in grassroots activism to oppose the CCP-tied company. Cella served as the U.S. Ambassador to Fiji during the first Trump administration.
[…]
“[They] refused to follow the directives given to state and local governments on dealings with China-based companies to exercise vigilance, conduct due diligence, and ensure transparency, integrity, and accountability are built into the partnership to guard against potential foreign government exploitation,” Cella said. “It is important that executive branch agencies, Congress, the Michigan Legislature, and citizens continue to scrutinize and investigate this ‘deal.’”
[…]
Gotion High-Tech’s “Articles of Association” required the firm to establish a “Party organization and carry out Party activities in accordance with the Constitution of the Communist Party of China.”
Yah, because they’re based in China. They have to follow the Chinese constitution. The same way American companies can’t violate the American constitution. ‘Party activities’ just means ‘doing business’ because that is how communism works. Smh my head.
Succesfuly defended citizens agaisnt employment
It’s amazing to me that people in this day and age still buy into this kind of McCarthyist nonsense. Imagine thinking that a party tasked with governing a nation of 1.4 billion people would be at all concerned about taking over a small town in the middle of nowhere to spy on the… Michigan National Guard? LOL
Imperial media going hard in the paint for the
Saddam Hussein WMDsUyghur genocide story that the UN has already debunked. You know your country is doing well when it’s disappearing protestors off the street while desperately accusing other countries of doing what they themselves are doing to Palestine in full view of the world.Pretty soon just believing in the germ theory of medicine will be evidence of communism in this rapidly medieval-ifying shithole
Lol
Anti-CCP rhetoric from white rural conservatives is just patent racism washed with a political guise. Every business in China has “ties to the CCP.” That’s how it works over there
So much for autarky lmao
Every business in China has “ties to the CCP.” That’s how it works over there
Than that proves that China is extremely fucked up. What is the justification for the CCP to exist at all if it is going to manage a bunch of capitalist corporations? How come they haven’t dissolved the Communist Party since it serves no purpose except to enrich the dictators and elites?
Anti-CCP rhetoric from white rural conservatives is just patent racism
That makes no sense since there is no bias against the Republic of China on Taiwan.
This link shows that the CCP has literally caused the deaths of tens if not hundreds of millions of Chinese. Why the fuck would anybody NOT be “anti-CCP”?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_killings_under_communist_regimes
Than that proves that China is extremely fucked up. What is the justification for the CCP to exist at all if it is going to manage a bunch of capitalist corporations? How come they haven’t dissolved the Communist Party since it serves no purpose except to enrich the dictators and elites?
The exact same can be said about the US, Bozo
The exact same can be said about the US, Bozo
No it can’t, stupid person. The US doesn’t have an anti-capitalist political party that owns all the capitalist corporations and doesn’t allow the people to chose their own leaders from other parties or even the leader of the only party.
This is not anti-CCP rhetoric, the CCP’s influence on private businesses is a simple fact that isn’t even denied by the CCP.
For example, the party’s infiltration of the private sector gained momentum already after then-president Jiang Zemin called in the early 2000s for the CCP to represent “the advanced productive force” and welcome China’s emerging private entrepreneurs.
Since Xi Jinping came to power in 2014, the CCP’s influence on private businesses have intensified (with the disappearance of entrepreneur Jack Ma after he criticized the CCP supposedly being the most prominent case).
You’ll find ample evidence for the the systematic ways in which the Chinese party-state has been interfering in the private sector. So called “CCP branches” within private firms -meant as a potential lever of control, alongside regulatory tools - are a key of that effort. In recent years, the number of these “party units” has increased dramatically, and the CCP branches have strengthened their role in private companies’ management.
You’ll find ample evidence for the the systematic ways in which the Chinese party-state has been interfering in the private sector.
Good, they should do much more of that.
Starting with the public executions of their own billionaires, the redistribution of all company ownership to the workers in the companies, and mandatory membership and democratization of representatives in the ACFTU
This is absolutely nationalist rhetoric from a conservative paper. Not only that, but the title is absolute nonsense. The CCP didn’t almost take over a town, and anyone who thinks they did is an idiot.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, they would love to control American towns, but they do not, nor have they come close to. You should be ashamed for even posting this tripe.
It’s not ‘nationalist rhetoric’ to be wary of dictatorships. Nobody would care if this was a corporation from the Republic of China. That is the country and people that Americans were huge friends with during and before WWII.
Funny thing to say, considering Trump literally just put tarrifs on the Republic of China.
The propaganda on China is elsewhere. It seems unbiased information is not for you.
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/independent-journal-review/
The source you posted is not unbiased.
What is a good source for China-related content?
Do you mean sources that are unbiased and focused on Asia, or unbiased sources that also cover Asia?
If you mean the former, then Asia Times is ranked as Least Biased, but there are some issues with stories being censored by the Chinese government since they are based in Hong Kong. Anything that embarrasses the CCP is not likely to show up here.
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/asia-times/
For the latter, there’s always Reuters, which is one of my favorites. They don’t focus specifically on Asia, so you’re going to miss out on some smaller regional news, but they are unbiased and highly factual in their reporting.
These ‘rating’ sites may give you a hint, but we shouldn’t solely rely on them.
What is a reliable source in your view?
You’ll find ample evidence for the the systematic ways in which the Chinese party-state has been interfering in the private sector.
The only systematic interference I see in this article is big (small-town) government chasing away honest job creators purely on the basis of their radical anti-business ideology.
This comment here is a prime example of not having issues with any of the actual problematic aspects and is instead entirely fueled by “fear of the other”.
The #1 priority of any state is maintaining their power. I apologize for the highly reductionist argument but:
Within the USA the private sector is, de facto, the super-executive branch of the state. It has “systematic ways” that it “interferes” with what it’s supposed to be a “democratic” state. Sure there’s a couple hundred oligarchs who all have competing ideas and visions but they, generally, understand that #1 rule.
Within China the CCP is, de facto, the super-executive branch of the state. It has “systematic ways” that it “interferes” with what it’s supposed to be a “democratic” state. Sure there’s a couple hundred general committee members who all have competing ideas and visions but they, generally, understand that #1 rule.
Within the USA any attempts at pulling power out of the “private sector” is a direct threat and any ideas around a “strong public sector” are a direct threat which is meet with propaganda, repression and violence.
Within China any attempts at pulling power out of the “public sector” is a direct threat and any ideas around a “strong private sector” are a direct threat which is meet with propaganda, repression and violence.
If your argument is honestly one against repression then stop spreading USA propaganda. Everyone knows that’s how the CCP works. If you’re going to convince anybody you need to evaluate and explain why it works that way and why it’s a “problem”.
As an example, the Jack Ma example is a particularly salient one as it would be, imo, comparable to Elon Musk being disappeared not long after floating the idea of DOGE. However your attempt to invoke comparisons to protest movements in the US; IE Fred Hampton, the Furgeson 6, 2020 disappearances, Columbia U ICE raids etc. feels disingenuous to me. Could you expand on that?
what a load of shit
The House Select Committee on the CCP investigated Gotion High-Tech in 2024 and “found their supply chains are reliant on forced labor as part of the CCP’s ongoing genocide of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang Province,” Mooleenaar told the DCNF.
Reminder that the US has more people in its prison system than China, despite having a much smaller population.
Reminder, that we know of. China doesn’t really publish the numbers in any verifiable form. Nor are there any third parties really able to audit it.
Further even if what you say is true it doesn’t make what China is doing right.
It’s just not very credible. US police also kill and hospitalize more people than Chinese police. US politicians have no room to criticize any other country’s law enforcement.
Well, what about regular people? Do we have room to criticize China, or is that not allowed either?
What do you mean “not allowed”? It’s clearly allowed, just as I’m allowed to criticize it.
. US police also kill and hospitalize more people than Chinese police.
LMFAO you aren’t the slightest bit credible. Just in this one region alone the Chinese dictatorship threw in jail 1 million people none of whom were criminals.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-22278037
[China has been accused of committing crimes against humanity and possibly genocide against the Uyghur population and other mostly-Muslim ethnic groups in the north-western region of Xinjiang.
Human rights groups believe China has detained more than one million Uyghurs against their will over the past few years in a large network of what the state calls “re-education camps”, and sentenced hundreds of thousands to prison terms.
A series of police files obtained by the BBC in 2022 has revealed details of China’s use of these camps and described the routine use of armed officers and the existence of a shoot-to-kill policy for those trying to escape.
The US is among several countries to have previously accused China of committing genocide in Xinjiang. The leading human rights groups Amnesty and Human Rights Watch have published reports accusing China of crimes against humanity.]
The so-called Xinjiang Police Files are kind of overblown imo
They took files from a single county of Xinjiang province and then extrapolated them to the entire region. Surely you can see how that would result in errors? Imagine if we took the numbers from a single county in the US and extrapolated them lol
That’s not how this works. That’s not how any of this works. They absolutely have every right to and often are right to. That doesn’t mean they’re not hypocritical at times. But just because someone is hypocritical doesn’t mean they’re wrong.
Unless they are a campist trying to deflect critique with a but somebody else might be worse claim.
You need to actually assess the motivations and credibility of the accusor, not just blindly accept the things they claim. This isn’t just a hypocrite, this is a politician with an agenda.
China exerts extreme control over businesses that operate from there. That’s a simple fact. This individuals motivations aren’t extremely relevant.
Might their motivations be alarmist? Perhaps. Might they be protectionist? There’s a very good chance. Xenophobic and bigoted. Knowing human nature the odds are good. How does any of that change the fact that the Chinese government has tight controls over all businesses within their border? Again that is a simple fact. And makes this concern not unwarranted. Let’s phrase it this way. Would you be defending a US state-controlled organization from doing similar in China? I doubt it.
Okay, if you look back up at my original comment, I’m only criticizing their accusations of China doing genocide in the Xiajiang region as the reason to stop this project. If they wanted to protect US industry from foreign state-controlled industry that’s just strategic. They don’t need to dress it up in humanitarianism when they clearly are just acting in economic self interest.
The AXIS OF EVIL (2025 edition)
Traitorapist Trump - War Criminal Putin - Comrade Xi - Caligula Jong Un
Lmao what a shit conservative title. Practically seethes with nationalist zeal.
Its not about nationalism. Nobody would care if this was a Taiwan company. Communist China is a dictatorship that has killed tens if not hundreds of millions of Chinese. The current dictator was supposed to step down after 10 years but he didn’t do that.
Its not about nationalism.
Says the party that can’t stop squealing American First every chance they get. Cut the bullshit, nobody with half a brain cell left is falling for it.
Says the party that can’t stop squealing American First every chance they get.
I’m not in that party. I am Dem. And it is not about nationalism. The Chinese dictatorship has killed tens of millions of Chinese. Why is a dictator okay for Chinese but not for Americans? To be thinking that sounds racist to me.
Cut the bullshit, nobody with half a brain cell left is falling for it.
LMFAO. Nobody with half a brain cell left thinks it is okay for China to have a dictator who has killed millions of Chinese. It also sounds racist to be thinking it was okay that someone killed tens of millions of Chinese as if their lives aren’t important.
First of all, you can’t be racist against Chinese, because Chinese is a nationality, not a race. It’s like saying you’re racist against Americans, it makes no sense because just like the United States, the Chinese are a very racially diverse group of people with dozens of ethnicities. Second, the implication is without merit because nobody who is arguing in good faith is going to read what I wrote and come to that conclusion. If your argument is so bad you need to try to paint me as a racist to feel better, then perhaps you should just stop while you’re not too far behind.
Third, we’re not talking about China being a dictatorship, stop trying to change the conversation to something you feel you have a better chance of arguing against. We’re talking about whether or not the source that was posted was propaganda or not. And as far as sources go, the one that was posted was very right-wing biased.
They missed out on an improvement in government.
Did they also eat the dogs or did they import fentanyl?
/s
