Michigan residents are outraged at their Democratic state lawmakers for pushing a plan that would allow a Chinese-owned tech company to build an electric vehicle battery plant in Big Rapids Township using $175 million in taxpayer funds.
Locals have lined the streets in recent days to protest the proposal, and concerned residents condemned it on Thursday before the state’s appropriations committee.
On Wednesday, I joined Michigan patriots to protest billions of taxpayer dollars going to Chinese Communist Party affiliated Gotion Inc. for a new manufacturing plant in Michigan. China is a massive threat to the United States right now. Leaders at the federal, state and local… pic.twitter.com/by9B3lpbyn
— Perry Johnson (@PJQualityGuru) April 7, 2023
Big Rapids Township clerk Hannah Saez begged the lawmakers to “do what is right” for her community.
“I can attest… that our community is now united in ways they would have never been before,” she said, according to the Daily Mail. “They do not want this.”
“Thousands of Michiganders will be watching today. I know you all receive daily emails and phone calls. I know you’re under pressure. I know you’ve probably been coerced,” she continued. “I beg of you to do what is right here even if corruption is knocking at your door.”
As BizPac Review reported, in March, more than 100 residents of Green Charter Township and Big Rapids turned up for a Green Charter Township board meeting to push back against the proposal that would see Gotion Global, a subsidiary of China-based company Gotion High-Tech, invest $2.4 billion in the construction of two 550,000 square-foot production plants on 260 acres of rural Michigan land — a plan touted by the state’s progressive Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
“A Chinese-owned company is a communist company,” one resident said at the time. “Why would you bring a communist company to Big Rapids, Michigan, when we have troops mobilizing right now to fight China? Why would we invite the enemy to come spy on us?”
Mich. residents resist planned build of factories by Chinese-owned company https://t.co/JZup3utbmb pic.twitter.com/VThlM7aKOf
— BPR (@BIZPACReview) March 19, 2023
The vote to approve the proposal was “slipped” into the committee’s agenda without any “due diligence,” said resident Marjorie Steele on Thursday.
“I’m angry,” Steele said. “I’m angry that this vote was slipped into the agenda today with as little information as possible so that people like me wouldn’t know it was happening. I’m angry that you, our elected officials, have ignored my community’s pleas to table this vote until some small semblance of due diligence can be performed.”
“I can promise you that we will not stop at the local level,” she continued. “We are tired of being abused and we are not alone. This is not just a Mecosta County issue. Townships and counties across the state are uniting, sharing resources, manpower, and grassroots activism. Your votes today, senators, are lines drawn in the sand.”
(Video: Daily Mail)
According to resident Cheryl Vitito, the project is part of the Chinese Communist Party’s plan to “overthrow the United States without firing a shot.”
“I think that any Chinese communist plant buying up 700 acres of Michigan land is a concern to all citizens throughout the state,” she stated. “This CCP-controlled company represents communism and is a threat to our way of life and our God-given and constitutional freedoms.”
“We don’t want the CCP here by way of the Gotion plant as they have no regard for the value and dignity of human life,” Vitito said.
Shirley Schaefer, another concerned resident, said the proposal is a threat to the nation.
“This company pledges allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party and should be determined as a threat to our national security,” she argued.
Republican lawmaker Kyle Luce of nearby Barton Township noted that 85 percent of the people in his jurisdiction opposed the project.
“Our citizens are concerned with the timeframe that’s going on here,” he said. “The timing seems to be sped up exponentially to, in our opinion, try to seal the deal and get this done before people have a chance to speak out, residents have a chance to speak out. And individuals, the fine senators, are digging up information daily about the CCP involvement.”
But despite the overwhelming opposition to the proposal, the measure passed in a tight 10-9 vote. Three Democrats joined every committee Republican to oppose it.
US Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) called the passage a “historic mistake.”
“To take millions of dollars from Michigan taxpayers and give it to a subsidiary of a company that pledges allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party is a historic mistake by the Michigan legislature,” he said in a statement following the narrow vote. “This proposed facility will be 100 miles from Camp Grayling where the Michigan National Guard has trained military partners from Taiwan to prepare for possible CCP aggression. Yet, Michigan’s state government leaders are siding with CCP-affiliated companies.”
US Rep. John Moolenaar calls the Legislature’s funding for CCP Gotion a “historic mistake.”
He noted the proposed Chinese battery plant would be 100 miles away from where the US military is training Taiwan to fight a Chinese invasion. pic.twitter.com/NxJwCbwG8H
— The Midwesterner (@Th_Midwesterner) April 20, 2023
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Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
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