As Chinese-backed companies continued gobbling up American land like a game of military base Monopoly, constituent concern went by the wayside for Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D).
The lockdown queen of Covidstan, somehow reelected in Nov. 2022, has yet to quit sticking it to residents of the Great Lake State. That was readily apparent Tuesday when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) linked electric vehicle battery company Gotion High-Tech announced their purchase of 270 acres of land with an added bonus of millions in taxpayer dollars.
Known as Project Elephant, Gotion’s vice president of North American operations Chuck Thelen released a statement Tuesday announcing the acquisition of land in Green Charter Township, Michigan some 100 miles from the nation’s largest U.S. National Guard training facility.
“Completion of the land acquisition process is a step forward for Gotion Inc. and the region as a whole,” Thelen said of the trimmed-down purchase. “We’ve listened to the concerns of local residents and decided not to purchase two large parcels of land zones for agriculture use at this time. Gotion Inc. will continue to work with members of the community, and our municipal, county and state partners, throughout this entire process.”
As previously reported, residents had been pushing back on the proposal that would see two 550,000-square-foot production plants constructed on the rural Michigan land after Whitmer had okayed the $2.4 billion investment in October.
Residents rage at Mich. lawmakers over Dem-led plan allowing Chinese green energy plants to be builthttps://t.co/TlSGSNJhDr
— American Wire News (@americanwire_) April 21, 2023
The only apparent sign of acquiescence to concerns came as Thelen noted that they hadn’t procured the residential and agricultural land they wanted, but that they would be looking to get local officials to rezone it for industrial use so they could buy it at a later time.
In his own press release, Michigan Rep. John Moolenaar (R), a member of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, announced, “I will continue to do everything I can to bring to light the risks of this project.”
“Mecosta County residents have overwhelmingly spoken out against this deal while being bullied and kept in the dark by Gotion and local officials who signed non-disclosure agreements that go against the public’s right to know,” the congressman said.
“The simple facts are that Gotion is a subsidiary of a company that pledges allegiance to the CCP and it should not be receiving taxpayer money to build in Michigan,” he added of the $175 million the Michigan Senate Appropriations Committee had granted through a 10-9 vote meant to help Gotion fund construction of their new facility which boasted it would bring more than 2,000 jobs to the area.
In addition to the concerns about Chinese control of American land, Project Elephant appeared to pose a potential national security risk due to its proximity to military armories some 60 miles away and to Camp Grayling.
“For our state to welcome CCP investment in Michigan 100 miles from the same facility where the Michigan National Guard has worked with military officials from Taiwan is a dangerous double standard that puts national security at risk. This land purchase in Green Township is a step backwards for Michigan and our communities,” Moolenaar warned.
Already, concerns have arisen from similar land grabs like the previously reported 55,000 acres surrounding the Travis Air Force Base in Solano County, California. While that purchase, for which the anonymous Flannery Associates were suing sellers for alleged conspiracy to overprice, had no confirmed links to the CCP, another investment in Grand Forks, North Dakota was.
Suspicious company that bought 55,000 acres of land surrounding US military base SUES local farmers for price gouging https://t.co/gcfXgu4xqA via @BIZPACReview
— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) August 1, 2023
Additionally, late last week President Joe Biden had flown to Maine to sign an executive order touting his commitment to support domestic manufacturing in the United States while one of his allies facilitated a massive investment, and potential spying, opportunity for the Chinese.
Finalization of the site plan, according to Gotion, requires an environmental review conducted by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.
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Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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