US lawmaker refuses to address CCP ties
US Representative Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) Wednesday refused to answer questions about her ties to a firm openly loyal to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Gotion Inc. is an electric vehicle (EV) battery maker owned by Chinese tech firm Gotion High-Tech, based in Hefei, China. The company, which employs nearly 1,000 CCP members, pledges loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) several times throughout its Articles of Association.
In April Gotion received approval from Michigan lawmakers to build an enormous 550,000 square foot battery plant in Big Rapids Township. The company has since purchased 270 acres of land for the project just dozens of miles from US military bases.
That same month Slotkin’s senatorial campaign received $250 from the legal firm Warner Norcross + Judd, a Gotion lobbyist and registered foreign agent, according to Fox News. Monique Field-Foster, an executive partner at Warner Norcross + Judd, also wired $250 to Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and to Whitmer’s sister, Liz Gereghty, who is running for a House seat in New York.
Slotkin, a former CIA operative, also reportedly signed a non-disclosure agreement before holding closed-door meetings with Gotion High-Tech.
When asked on Wednesday by a reporter about Gotion’s contribution to her campaign, Slotkin refused to answer.
“Why are you being funded by a lobbyist for a Chinese Communist Party-tied company?” the reporter asked Slotkin as she descended a staircase. “Will you register as a foreign agent like the lobbyist did? Why are you covering up dealings with the Chinese Communist Party? Do you think the deal with Chinese Communist Party is a national security threat?”
Slotkin ignored the questions and continued walking while her colleague tried to block the camera.
Footage obtained by the Daily Caller last month shows Gotion High-Tech employees dressed as Red Army soldiers and pledging to “fight for communism for the rest of my life.” The footage was taken during company field trips to communist revolutionary memorials. Over 920 CCP members are reportedly employed by Gotion High-Tech.
Gotion High-Tech also set up the Gotion High-Tech Co., Ltd. Committee of the Communist Party of China which, according to Article 115 “shall perform its duties in accordance with the Constitution of the Communist Party of China.
But despite its strong ties to the CCP, Gotion announced last week that it also received approval to build another large plant in Kankakee County, Illinois, about 15 miles from another military base. The plant is expected to create 2,600 jobs while raking in $536 million in incentives and $125 million in capital funding from the State of Illinois, in addition to a 30-year tax abatement.
Gotion’s land purchases add to the 384,000 acres of US land — about twice the size of New York City — already owned by the Chinese, according to a US Department of Agriculture 2021 report. This includes a recent 370-acre purchase in North Dakota by the Chinese company Fufeng Group, whose Executive Chairman Xuechun Li is considered an active CCP member and supporter. The location is just a 20-minute drive from a US Air Force base housing sensitive drone technology.
According to the Treasury Department’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), Gotion Inc. does not pose a national security threat.
