GREEN CHARTER TOWNSHIP, Mich. (NewsNation) — A newly elected leader in a rural Michigan town says he’s “ready to fight” to keep a Chinese-affiliated electric battery plant out of the area.
Jason Kruse is serving as the new supervisor of Green Charter Township. Citizens of the town recently voted to oust its entire local government after the town board decided to greenlight the construction of the Gotion plant despite strong objection from many residents.
With Gotin having already purchased property in Green Charter Township for the plant, the new board expects a long road ahead in trying to give voters the results they want.
“We’re ready to fight or keep fighting,” Kruse told “On Balance” host Leland Vittert on Wednesday. “There’s a lot of misinformation that’s out there that says that it can’t be beat, that it’s already a done deal. We’ve heard this over and over again, but it’s simply not true.”
Kruse explained there’s been strong resistance on social media against people who are opposed to the Gotion plant. Gotion initially denied allegiance to the Communist Party of China, but NewsNation’s Brian Entin found that its corporate records say, “The company shall set up a party organization and carry out party activities in accordance with the constitution of the communist party of China.”
“We just can’t figure out why some of these people stand in favor of something like this with the battery plant Gotion,” Kruse said.
But Kruse says pushback isn’t going to stop him from getting to work.
“Right now, it’s just a matter of getting sworn in, getting back to work, getting our area government working again, re-establishing communication with our banks that was shut off in the transition, building a team and listening to our community,” Kruse said.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, state lawmakers and members of the local township board agreed to bring Gotion into Green Charter Township. What made residents stand up against the move? Kruse thinks it’s because no one considered the township itself and the people that call it home.
“We were simply never asked. We had this push down from the government, from the state government, from our local governments. They just said, 'We’re going to put this plant in, and it doesn’t matter what you do, it’s a great economic boom for the area.' But they never stopped to ask us and wonder if it was actually a good fit for our rural township,” Kruse said.
Gotion, the U.S. subsidiary of a Chinese electric battery maker, already runs plants in Ohio and California and had plans for another plant in Illinois. The project in Michigan was reportedly the result of around $800 million in grants and other tax subsidies from the state.
According to Gotion, the project was slated to bring more than 2,300 jobs to Green Charter Township as part of a $2.34 billion investment. But it’s the affiliation to China and a fear of losing control that have sparked concerns in the rural town, Kruse said.
“We see a lot of these projects coming out in small rural townships, where if you put in a mega plant like this, especially Chinese-owned, once you put it in, they’re going to have complete control of that area. They’ll have maximum influence. There’s nothing to compete with. It’s very alarming,” Kruse said.
Gotion previously told NewsNation: “We are a multinational company and don’t believe in political posturing and are still committed to bringing thousands of jobs to the state of Michigan.”
Kruse said his phone has been “ringing off the hook” from people all over the country that are in similar fights and situations of distrust in their own towns.
According to reports, Chinese ownership of American land has skyrocketed 55% over the last five years. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says Chinese entities own more than 383,000 acres of U.S. farmland.
NewsNation’s Brian Entin contributed to this report.