A chorus of boos greeted Timothy Nugent, the mayor of Manteno, Illinois, at a village board meeting last week, as he explained his decision to let a China-based firm build an electric vehicle battery plant.
He said that the proposed US$2 billion facility by Gotion High-Tech Co would not only create 2,600 “good paying jobs” – a huge opportunity for the village of 9,000 and the surrounding region – but also “significantly help bolster” the supply chain for the EV sector as the US transitions from gas-powered engines to lithium-ion batteries.
The mayor also rejected demonising the company, calling it troubling that “polarised politics” and “baseless assertions and accusations” had “hijacked the education, science and medicine and economic innovation and resilience in our nation”.
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“There is no evidence that Gotion has engaged in espionage or posed any national security threat to the United States,” Nugent declared.
Many residents weren’t buying it. One told Nugent that the plant was part of an effort “by the Chinese Communist Party to infiltrate using business and engineers to spy on our capabilities and discover our weaknesses”.
Another accused the mayor of “exposing every one of us to the contamination of our soil and water and you’re threatening the overall health of the entire community”.
Manteo is just the latest destination for these disputes. Last year, similar scenes played out in Sidney, Ohio, after the Chinese manufacturer Semcorp pledged to set up a US$1 billion EV battery plant. Since May, another US$2.4 billion EV battery project by Gotion has faced opposition in rural Michigan.
The once-bipartisan cause of boosting local economies has now become hyperpoliticised when Chinese businesses are involved – with non-partisan local officials finding themselves under fire for working with state officials to attract investment and create jobs.
Governors of Michigan and Illinois, both Democrats, have hailed Gotion’s EV factories as an economic blessing for their states. In May, Michigan’s Democratic-controlled legislature approved US$175 million in incentives for Gotion, calling the project “transformative” for “one of the poorest counties in the state”.
