Entire board of Michigan township VOTED OUT over approvals for CCP-linked EV factory

A small township in Michigan voted on Tuesday in a recall election to oust its entire board over members' support for the construction of an electric vehicle battery factory operated by Gotion, a China-based company believed to be linked to the Chinese Communist Party.  

Residents of Green Charter Township replaced the five-person Republican-dominated board with unaffiliated candidates, and even changed the locks on the local government building to prevent the now-former members from entering.

According to the Daily Mail, the five members voted out were Supervisor Jim Chapman, Treasurer Denise MacFarlane, Trustees Roger Carroll and Dale Jernstadt, and Town Clerk Janet Clark. Taking over for the latter is Corri Riebow, a resident with no prior political experience.

"The voters' voices were heard," Rep. John Moolenaar said. "People are in favor of jobs coming into their area, but not when there's a link to the Chinese Communist Party."

The proposed factory, which was recently given the go-ahead by the ousted board, drew criticism from politicians and citizens across the country over fears it could give China a foothold in America.

Despite being 30 percent controlled by Volkswagen AG, most of Gotion's parent company Gotion High-Tech is owned by people and entities with ties to the CCP.
 

"It is not in the interest of the United States to allow the CCP to control facilities estimated to produce thousands of those batteries, much less to provide it with hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funded subsidies to do so," Sen. Marco Rubio and a slew of Republican representatives from Michigan wrote in a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in September.

In October, GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy visited the township and expressed his solidarity with those opposing the factory.

In a statement, Vice President of North American Manufacturing Chuck Thelen said Gotion was a "multinational company that does not engage in political posturing."

"We continue to steadfastly work to meet our commitment of creating 2,350 jobs in the state of Michigan while communicating facutally and transparently with all regulatory organizations."