MECOSTA COUNTY — Michigan State Senator Jonathan Lindsey (R-Coldwater) hosted former ambassadors Pete Hoekstra and Joseph Cella at the Michigan State Capitol for a press briefing Tuesday on Gotion High Tech, the parent company of Gotion North America, stating connections to the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Gotion, Inc. plan to bring a battery component manufacturing facility to Green Charter Township in Mecosta County.
During the press briefing, Cella stated that in 2010, American geologists discovered deposits of lithium, the chemical used to create lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, in Afghanistan and surrounding areas worth around $1 trillion dollars.
“If there is the remotest chance a company in Michigan is helping to subsidize a People’s Republic of China based company with ties to the Chinese Communist Party and is possibly working on a deal with the Taliban regime, you have to take a serious look at that,” Cella said. “This is part of the serious vetting process that should happen.”
In response to the comments made during the press briefing, Gotion North America Vice President Chuck Thelen said it was his understanding that there is a company spelled Gochin that is actively engaged with the Taliban in Afghanistan about buying lithium.
“I just want to state that this company is no part of Gotion High Tech, nor is it associated with any of our affiliates,” he said. “I understand there is a senator that is going to make a bunch of noise with a press release and is going to reference this, so I want to get it out there that this has nothing to do with our company and we are not working with the Taliban.”
Cella and Hoekstra represent the Michigan-China Economic and Security Review Group, an all volunteer organization, co-founded by the two former ambassadors a couple of months ago, whose mission it is to monitor, assess and report on threats, potential threats or emerging threats from the PRC or the CCP.
Source : Pioneer
