Dupage Policy Journal

Adam Beaty, GOP candidate for House District 81, has raised concerns about a new lithium battery plant set to take over a former K-Mart distribution center in Manteno, Illinois.

Beaty’s worries stem from the plant’s association with Gotion High-Tech Co. Ltd. of China, a company whose bylaws reference adherence to the Constitution of the Communist Party of China, prompting questions about foreign involvement in local industry and the potential implications for national security.

“If you don’t already know, Governor Pritzker and the Mayor of Manteno green lit a new lithium battery plant to take over the old K-Mart distribution center in town,” Beaty said on Facebook.

“The company is called Gotion High-Tech Co. Ltd. of China. The company bylaws specifically mention ‘the Party Committee of the company shall perform its duties in accordance to the Constitution of the Communist Party of China.’ Further, the Party Committee is encouraged to ‘Strengthen the construction of the Party’ at the ’grassroots level!’”

“Folks…the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is setting up camp in our county, in our state, our backyard!! JB Pritzker and the Mayor of Manteno are selling out and allowing the enemy regime to set up a faction right under our noses!”

“The apathy has to stop! Michigan stopped them! We NEED TO also!”

The Gotion controversy involves the Chinese company’s plans to receive $8 billion in taxpayer subsidies for a $2 billion battery factory in Manteno, which has raised concerns among residents and lawmakers, according to Wirepoints.

The citizens of Manteno, along with concerned Michigan and North Dakota residents, where other similar Gotion battery plants have been planned, and a U.S. House committee, are questioning the substantial taxpayer funding granted to a company with ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

The “We the People of Manteno” parade, held on Oct. 22, united the community in opposition to the proposed Chinese Communist Party-affiliated Gotion auto battery plant set to take over the old K-Mart location in Manteno, Illinois.

Concerned citizens, along with organizations like “Outrage of Kankakee County,” rallied to raise funds for a forthcoming legal battle against the plant, which they argue is receiving substantial tax breaks and poses health risks to the local community.

The planned Manteno Gotion plant was noted in a letter written by U.S. Senator Marco Rubio and U.S. Representative John Moolenaar calling for a Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) review of Gotion, Inc. due to its CCP ties and potential access to green-energy tax breaks. They expressed concerns about the extent of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) control over Gotion and its impact on critical infrastructure decisions in the U.S., particularly within the state of Illinois.

“The extent of the CCP’s control over Guoxuan (Gotion) is explicitly mentioned in the company’s corporate by-laws, which require the company ‘to carry out Party activities in accordance with the Constitution of the [Chinese Communist Party],’” the letter reads.

“In 2021, Guoxuan High-Tech hosted several company retreats where employees were mandated to recite a pledge of loyalty to the Party, including to ‘fight for communism.’ This is concerning, no less because the Biden Administration itself has described the PRC in its 2022 National Security Strategy as the 'only competitor with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to do it,' and that ‘Beijing frequently uses its economic power to coerce countries.’ The CCP’s control over Guoxuan High-Tech is no exception to the Party’s strategy to exert its influence in the United States.”

The 81st House District, located in DuPage and Will counties, includes all or portions of Downers Grove, Lisle, Naperville, Woodridge, Darien, Westmont, and Bolingbrook. It is currently held by State Rep. Anne Stava-Murray (D-Naperville).