Gov. J.B. Pritzker said critics of his decision to provide taxpayer financing to Gotion, Inc., a Chinese electric vehicle battery maker with CCP ties, are “xenophobes” and “MAGA Republicans.” That’s ironic given that some of the most urgent warnings about China on spying, intelligence and supply chain risks come from the top of his very own Democratic party.
Pritzker lured Gotion into Illinois only after losing 18 other EV investment opportunities to other states. Pritzker closed the deal with the lithium battery maker by agreeing to a $536 million subsidy package, including $213 million in tax benefits, $125 million from the state lending program Invest in Illinois, as well as a 30-year local property tax freeze.
The Illinois plant also will be eligible for $7.5 billion in federal subsidies over five years. The deal was negotiated and closed by the governor with no transparency and no local-resident input.
The list of top-level democrats deeply concerned about China is long. President Biden’s own FBI head, Christopher Wray, has warned that there’s “no country – underline no country – that represents a broader, more severe counterintelligence threat to the United States than the People’s Republic of China.”
Wray was on 60 Minutes last week warning of “China’s global espionage campaign.” He told Scott Pelley, “We have seen efforts by the Chinese government, directly or indirectly, trying to steal intellectual property, trade secrets, personal data – all across the country. We’re talking everything – from Fortune 100 companies, all to smaller startups.”
Then there’s Biden’s Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines. She says “China is…pushing to revise global norms in ways that favor the authoritarian Chinese system.” Biden’s Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also warns of China’s “increasingly coercive actions to reshape the Indo-Pacific region and the international system to fit its authoritarian preferences.”
Even an Illinois Democrat, U.S. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, says “The goal of the CCP has become clear: to displace U.S. and other competitors, especially in tomorrow’s strategic industries.”
The risks in the Gotion deal are not trivial. The Wall Street Journal recently reiterated that Gotion President Li Chen has deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party, which raises legitimate questions about Gotion’s ultimate allegiances.
Questions remain for many Illinoisans, including those from Illinois’ Senate Minority Leader, linked here, to those from local residents in Manteno. Why are we giving a Chinese company with CCP ties $8 billion in American taxpayer subsidies for a $2 billion factory? Why hasn’t there been any transparency regarding the transaction and any of the agreements reached? What has been vetted regarding security, environmental and economic risks? Why have Manteno residents been kept in the dark?
Unfortunately, Gov. Pritzker continues to dismiss concerns over Gotion – even those of his own party leaders. Are they, too, “Xenophobes?” and “MAGA Republicans?”