WASHINGTON DC – “We have to be dubious and skeptical of Chinese-related companies, particularly those tied to the Communist Chinese Party and state-owned enterprises,” Illinois Congressman Darin LaHood (16th) said at a late July 2024 forum in Green Charter Township, Michigan.
“China has a plan to replace the United States, and they’re working it out every single day. They want to replace us technologically, militarily, from a national security standpoint.”
LaHood said during the forum that those assertions are just part of why the Pritzker Administration’s generous taxpayer-funded subsidies to entice a lithium battery plant to Kankakee County should concern Illinoisans and Americans.
LaHood and the Green Charter Township forum co-sponsor U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar of Michigan, who serves on the U.S. House Select Committee on China, listed other issues in light of China’s technological takeover of Hong Kong and Tibet, with Taiwan almost certainly next on China’s list to control.
Allegations of intellectual property theft, the exploding fentanyl crisis, Chinese surveillance balloons over the U.S., and the growing number of U.S. farmland acreage purchased by the Chinese Communist Party is stirring questions and a resulting investigation concerning Gotion. The company is planning a significant factory just south of the Chicagoland area and west of the Illinois/Indiana border and another in Green Charter Township, Michigan.
Despite concerns, Illinois’ Pritzker Administration announced in 2023 the anticipated Gotion facility could receive more than $530 million in Illinois tax incentives, with potentially billions more in federal subsidies earmarked for green energy projects.
CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATION REVEALS GOTION TIES TO HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
After researching Gotion and its affiliation with the Chinese Communist Party, a Congressional letter issued on June 5, 2024, detailed concerns their investigation found.
“As companies linked to the CCP receive billions of taxpayer dollars in federal and state subsidies, we have an obligation to ensure they abide by federal law and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. The Select Committee’s investigation reveals damning information about the entanglement of Gotion’s supply chains in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). The Select Committee and my office will continue to conduct necessary oversight to protect Illinois taxpayers from the influence of these malign activities and human rights violations.”
The letter, signed by Select Committee on the CCP Chairman John Moolenaar, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Marco Rubio, and House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, said newly discovered information indicates Gotion is affiliated with forced labor and Uyghur genocide.
The information revealed that “Gotion maintains extensive business relationships in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) and in other provinces or regions in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) with companies directly linked to forced labor and involved in the ongoing genocide of Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups…”
The findings were so troubling that those signing the letter requested any entities linked to XUAR, the location of Gotion’s parent company, be added to the UFLPA (Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act) Entity List and its shipments be prohibited from entry to the United States.
The Committee found:
Gotion sources aluminum foil from a subsidiary of Xinjiang Nonferrous, a CCP state-owned enterprise known for its prolific use of forced labor, including forced housing of Han men with Uyghur women and families.
Gotion sources material from Xinjiang Joinworld, a company that participated in ‘poverty alleviation through labor transfer.’ These programs are often a disguise for forced labor. A local CCP chapter even awarded a Xinjiang Joinworld employee an award for implementing the CCP’s ethnic policies.
Gotion sources lithium-ion and other materials from companies with deep connections to XPCC, the sanctioned Chinese paramilitary organization that contributes to the Uyghur genocide.
They also found that Gotion’s filing with the Foreign Agent Registration Act (required for companies attempting to influence politicians and regulators on behalf of a foreign government) says that Gotion, Inc. is wholly owned and controlled by Hefei Gotion High-Tech Power Energy Co., Ltd.
Gotion’s 2022 articles of association includes language that calls on the company to “carry out Party activities” in accordance with the Chinese Communist Party.
Article 9 of those same articles states: “The Company shall set up a Party organization and carry out Party activities in accordance with the Constitution of the Communist Party of China. The Company shall ensure necessary conditions for carrying out Party activities. The secretary of the Party committee shall be the chairman.”
GOTION DENIES ALLEGATIONS
However, Gotion’s Vice President for North American Operations, Chuck Thelen, denies Gotion’s association with the CCP or the PRC.
“Gotion High-Tech is an independently operated international private enterprise. The political affiliation of any employee does not affect the company’s business decision-making process. Gotion complies with all laws and regulations of the countries where it conducts business and provides high-quality products to its customers,” Thelen said in a statement.
ILLINOIS OFFICIALS WELCOME GOTION
Illinois’ Governor J.B. Pritzker either needed to be made aware of or ignored cautions when he proudly announced that Gotion was coming to Illinois in September 2023.
“Today, we take another leap forward, announcing the largest electric vehicle battery production investment in Illinois to date. It’s my pleasure to welcome a world-leading battery manufacturer — Gotion — to Illinois,” Pritzker said.
“This announcement is a testament to Illinois’ status as a leading destination for companies and investors who want the most talented workers, the best transportation systems, and a collaborative economic growth mindset from their partners in government at all levels. With 2,600 new jobs, a $2 billion gigafactory, and the most significant new manufacturing investment in Illinois in decades — it’s the most recent proof that we are in a new paradigm. Illinois is on the rise, and we’re open for business.”
Business leaders from groups such as the Illinois Retail Merchants Association and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, as well as ComEd and NiCor, joined the governor’s announcement.
The Technology & Manufacturing Association, however, has a different stance on the growing Gotion controversy. The group, representing over 800 small and mid-size manufacturing companies in Illinois and the Midwest, released a critical statement after the 2023 announcement.
“Many small and mid-sized manufacturers in the state are looking at the news and wondering where that support for manufacturing has been since Governor Pritzker took office. Bootstrap manufacturers have been pleading for the governor to listen to their concerns with no response, but then he’s willing to open the checkbook for an outside, Chinese-owned company,” TMA President Patrick Osborne said.
“I’ve heard from our members—a lot of them have felt like they’ve been on their own and getting no help from the state. Now, they just feel betrayed.”
The TMA surveyed its members after Governor Pritzker and local governments announced the hefty incentives to lure the Chinese company to Illinois.
They asked TMA members for their positions regarding the Gotion plant receiving tax credits, and 74% responded in opposition. 17% were supportive of the Gotion plant but still concerned about the cost and fairness of the tax credits and subsidies. The remaining 9% surveyed were either supportive altogether or had no position on the matter.
FEDERAL MEASURE INTRODUCED TO RESTRICT GOTION ASSISTANCE
Last fall, Congressmen LaHood and Moolenaar introduced the No Official Giveaways Of Taxpayers’ Income to Oppressive Nations (NO GOTION) Act. The bill would prohibit companies affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from receiving green energy production tax credits implemented by the Biden Administration in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
“If America is going to have a secure energy supply, we cannot give federal tax credits to CCP-controlled companies and allow them to expand their influence in the U.S.,” said Congressman Moolenaar. “Quite simply, the tax dollars of the American people should not be used to pad the profits of a company beholden to the CCP.”
Besides Congressman LaHood and 15 other U.S. representatives, only Mike Bost and Mary Miller from Illinois are signed on as co-sponsors to the NO GOTION Act.
** As seen in TMA News Bulletin July/August 2024 Edition **
