A subsidiary of a multibillion-dollar Chinese energy company is suing a small Michigan town over local officials’ opposition to its massive electric vehicle (EV) battery project.
Gotion Inc.’s parent company, Gotion High-Tech, based in Hefei, China and with documented ties to the Chinese Communist Party, filed a breach of contract complaint against Green Charter Township in the U.S. District Court for the Western District. of Michigan. The lawsuit is the latest escalation in a months-long feud between Gothion and Green Charter officials, which has put the brakes on the company’s proposed projects within the town’s jurisdiction.
“We are saddened and disappointed by their decision to move in this direction,” Green Charter Supervisor Jason Kruse told FOX News Digital in a written statement.
“My primary concern as township supervisor is to protect the interests of the people of Green Charter Township, and we intend to vigorously defend the township’s position on this issue,” Kruse said. he added. “We may be a small community, but we refuse to be bullied.”
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Li Zhen, founder and chairman of Gotion High Tech, attended the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore on November 10, 2023. (Lionel Ng/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Kruse and other elected Green Charter leaders are pursuing illegal actions against the company and are “motivated by clear anti-Gochon hostility,” according to the complaint. The city of Gothion asked the court to reinstate the township’s revoked permit and thereby allow the battery project to move forward, and also filed a motion for a preliminary injunction seeking prompt court intervention.
“It is unfortunate that Goshon had to resort to litigation to force the town to comply with its obligations under the agreement,” Chuck Sellen, vice president of Goshon’s North American operations, said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital. . “As this is an ongoing legal matter, we are unable to comment further.”
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The issue dates back to October 2022. Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer Gortion announced that it will invest $2.4 billion to build two large-scale production plants and other supporting facilities on 260 acres in Green Charter, located in northwest Michigan. Whitmer said the project will strengthen Michigan’s position as a “world-class hub for mobility and electrification.”
Under the economic development package awarded to Goshon, the company will receive $175 million in taxpayer-funded incentives and more than $500 million in tax benefits.
Image from video published on Gotion High-Tech’s website. The video shows the company hosted various Chinese Communist Party loyalty events for its employees. (Goshon High Tech)
But the project has caused a huge uproar locally, with residents repeatedly raising concerns about Gothion’s ties to China and calling on the Whitmer administration to cancel the project. For example, opponents of the project point out that Goshon Hitech’s internal regulations require the company to “conduct Party activities in accordance with the Constitution of the Communist Party of China.”
Additionally, Gotion High-Tech hosted multiple company trips to the Chinese Communist Revolution Monument in Anhui Province, China in 2021. During the trip, Gothion High-Tech employees wore Red Army costumes and vowed to “fight for communism until the end of my life.”
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On December 13, 2022, Green Charter Township approved a resolution supporting Goshon’s project. A few months later, in August 2023, the town granted then-Superintendent James Chapman the authority to privately negotiate the terms of a development agreement with Goshon needed to approve certain infrastructure at the project site. Gave.
This agreement was entered into between Goshon and Green Charter on October 10, 2023.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer waits to speak at a campaign event on August 2, 2022 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (Bill Priano/Getty Images)
However, while the town moved forward with the agreement and negotiations with Gothion, local residents simultaneously organized a recall effort that turned out to be successful in early November 2023. All town officials, including Chapman, were expelled. Kruse and the other new board members immediately canceled the October development agreement after taking office.
“The Development Agreement is and remains a legally binding agreement between Gothion and the Township,” Gothion’s federal lawsuit states.
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Meanwhile, after the lawsuit was filed, former U.S. ambassadors Peter Hoekstra and Joseph Serra, who have led opposition to the company’s plans citing national security concerns, slammed Gaushon. Last year, the pair founded the Michigan-China Economic Security Review Group, a watchdog group dedicated to investigating Chinese economic investments across the country, with a particular focus on Michigan.
“Gouchon, based in China and with ties to the Chinese Communist Party, operates in exactly the same way as companies based in authoritarian communist China, operating in secret, under pressure, above the law, and with environmental recklessness. continues to continue in all respects while ignoring the current situation,” the companies said in a joint statement. Monday’s statement. “The $40 billion corporation Gortion doesn’t like the fact that the five elected officials they transferred for them have been recalled and are now trying to get the results they want against the will of the people. Therefore, he is filing a lawsuit alleging “breach of contract.” ”
“These residents are fighting this issue every day on both sides of the aisle in Green Township,” they added. “They simply want to avoid the risk of this kind of subnational incursion from Gothion, which our national security and intelligence operations have warned poses a national security threat, and to protect our pristine natural environments, waters, and habitats.” We’re just trying to conserve the land. This is exactly why we do it every day. Hard-working Americans don’t trust the government or the business elite.”
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Former CIA Director Leon Panetta and Mike Pompeo have also sounded the alarm about the project.
Governor Whitmer’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
