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How a Chinese battery factory sparked a political meltdown in a small Michigan town. (restofworld.org)

submitted 5 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/26734441

The Gotion factory highlights the challenges Chinese companies face in the U.S., particularly during a climate of deep political polarization, nationalism, and growing suspicion toward China.

A grassroots “No Go” movement, fueled by fears of communism and environmental concerns, successfully stalled the project in Michigan, leading to the ouster of local officials who supported the factory.

The Gotion case shows the disconnect between national economic goals and local concerns, especially in communities wary of globalization and foreign investment.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Michigander here, my buddy has a cabin in this town and I'd go up north a few times a year for a long weekend on the river. He also has some family that have lived in Big Rapids forever. His uncle, red as they come, was telling me he thought it was a great idea to bring in more jobs to a smaller college town and that was the general sentiment of the town.

He also told me that the "No Go On Gotion" movement was started by some wealthy realtor that was salty that Gotion bought up the property surrounding their luxury estate and horse farm to build low cost housing for the future workers. Driving into town there's an entire road lined with anti-gotion signs on one side, and it just so happens that is the edge of the realtors property.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 days ago

That realtor doesn't happen to own a looooot of property in Frankenmuth, do they?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 days ago

What it shows is the complete morons who live in the United states. We have some of the most backward pieces of shit here.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Rithmire said tightened party control over the Chinese society, state investments in strategic industries, and Beijing’s more aggressive foreign policy have all fueled a deep suspicion in the U.S. “There’s just this blurred boundary between firms and the state.”

This is a problem not only in the U.S. but anywhere. Just look at BYD's recent factory spat in Brazil, where authorities closed the plant because of slavery-like conditions. As a result, the Chinese state -not the private company BYD- installed surveillance mechanism to prevent further in BYD's Brazilian factory. We see similar things all across the world. This 'deep suspicion' has a reason. The Chinese government doesn't care about even the most basic workers' rights or any rights.

Addition: You may be interested in this post here on Lemmy: https://slrpnk.net/post/19370986

The article falls largely short of environmental aspects of this battery plant, more you can read here:

Project snapshot

500+ acres (including wetlands) intake of 715,000 gallons of water per day (the amount of water Gotion proposes to take from the local aquifer is more than Nestle’s Ice Mountain)
output of 65,000 gallons of wastewater per day
materials Gotion has mentioned include lithium carbonate, coated spherical purified graphite, and cobalt
failed to comply with any CFIUS reviews
no environmental impact study (EIS) has been provided
minimal information re: worker health & safety
no formalized fire & hazard management plans