MILES DILWORTH
A rural community in Michigan has hailed a 'huge victory' after a Chinese-owned industrial firm backed out of buying local farmland.
Residents of the idyllic Green Charter Township, around 50 miles east of Lake Michigan, say they were 'bullied' into accepting the takeover, but refused to do so.
Gotion, a company that 'pledges allegiance' to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), did, however, complete the purchase of 260 acres of derelict industrial land in the township and 10 acres of disused farmland last week.
It comes as data shows Chinese firms now own more than $2billion worth of US farmland, up from just $162million a decade ago, DailyMail.com can reveal.
The CCP has a stake in 383,935 acres of American agricultural land as of December 2021, according to the latest figures released by the US Department of Agriculture.
China owns 383,935 acres of US farmland as of December 2021, with almost half of it in Texas
Residents of the idyllic Green Charter Township in Michigan are leading a fightback against the Chinese land grab, hailing a 'huge victory' after Beijing-backed firm Gotion pulled out of the purchase of farmland in the area. (L-R) Residents Kelly Cushway, Lori Brock, Debbie Diegert and Jeff Thorne protest the deal
By comparison, Bill Gates owns 248,000 acres of US farmland, while Jeff Bezos owns 420,000.
It has sparked a national debate over why the US is allowing a hostile state to buy up vital land across the country amid concerns over espionage and security.
Hundreds of residents in Green Charter Township, Mecosta County, have previously turned out to protest the Gotion deal, in which the firm is to be paid $175million in direct taxpayer funding to help it build the facility.
Questions have also been raised over allowing a CCP-subsidiary to move into a site that is just 100 miles away from a US military camp where the Michigan National Guard has been training troops from Taiwan - a territory neighboring China some security experts, including among the US military, say Beijing is preparing to invade.
In a statement confirming the purchase of 270 acres of land in Green Charter Township last week, Gotion said it had 'listened to concerns of local residents and decided not to purchase two large parcels of land zoned for agriculture use at this time'.
Resident and realtor Lori Brock, 58, who has led the local opposition to the deal, said the concession was a 'huge' victory for the community, but warned the fight was 'far from over'.
'We don't want that factory in our community no matter what,' she told DailyMail.com
'We want an American company. Not one that is backed by the CCP.
'We're almost at war with China right now. Why are we allowing them to buy land here and we can't buy land in China? It doesn't make sense.
'We're fighting [the deal] tooth and nail.'
Brock, 58, a local realtor said residents wanted an American business, not one backed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), to invest in the community
A billboard expresses the feelings of many residents of the 3,200-strong township, who oppose the building of a battery factory in the area by CCO-subsidiary Gotion
Protest placards litter the roads entering the town, around 50 miles east of Lake Michigan
Residents gathered to discuss their concerns regarding the Gotion deal when DailyMail.com visited the town last weekend
Camp Grayling (pictured), a Michigan base used by the US military to conduct training exercises, is around 100 miles away from the land bought by Gotion
The Michigan National Guard has been training troops from Taiwan - a territory neighboring China that some security experts say China is preparing to invade
A sign saying 'private property, no trespassing' marks the entrance to 260 acres of disused industrial land bought by Gotion. It sits opposite a small private airport and animal shelter in Green Charter Township
The animal shelter, is allegedly refusing to sell their property, which would allow for a larger entrance way to Gotion factories
Gotion has broken ground on one large portion of land in Green Charter Township, MI
The takeover of US farmland by Chinese companies comes amid wider concerns over CCP infiltration into American society.
DailyMail.com has previously revealed the locations of three Chinese 'community centers' in San Francisco, Nebraska and Houston suspected of secretly working for Beijing.
Meanwhile, a top Republican warned last week that China is 'in our house' following a raid on an illegal Chinese-run virus lab in California.
US farmland owned by China represents only around 1 percent of all foreign-owned land in the country.
But some politicians fear the CCP could use corporations under its control to take over America's food and energy supply, or use these businesses for espionage.
There are also concerns that wealthy foreign owners could price domestic farmers out of the market.
Almost half of all Beijing-owned US farmland is in Texas, with more than 100,000 acres in Val Verde County held by Chinese billionaire and former People's Liberation Army captain Sun Guangxin, through Brazos Highland Properties LP and Harvest Texas LLC.
Critics of the Gotion deal have highlighted a clause in its business filings that states the company 'shall set up a party organization and carry out party activities in accordance with the constitution of the Communist Party of China'.
The company has said it plans to bring four Chinese nationals to help set up the factory in Michigan for a short period of time.
In July, former director of the US National Counterintelligence and Security Center William Evanina told a congressional committee that it was '100 percent' likely that the plant would be used to spy for the CCP.
He stressed that the threat came from the CCP, not the Chinese people.
Chuck Thelen, the company's vice president of North American operations, denied that the CCP had 'penetrated' the company during a virtual town hall earlier this year.
He told the DailyMail.com: ' The continued prejudice-fueled propaganda is insulting, inflammatory and flat-out divisive.'
'Gotion Inc. and the Green Charter Township Board have fulfilled every state and federal check that Mr. Moolenaar has required, and when presented with positive outcomes, that should be celebrated for the region and its citizens, we continue to see political scare tactics from the congressman that are designed to mislead constituents instead of empowering the people that he was elected to represent,' he added.
China now owns more US farmland (383,935 acres) than Bill Gates (248,000), but less than Jeff Bezos (420,000), according to US Department of Agriculture figures
More than 100,000 acres of farmland in Texas is owned by Chinese billionaire Sun Guangxin
Michigan Congressman John Moolenaar (R.) said in a statement: 'Mecosta County residents have overwhelmingly spoken out against this deal while being bullied and kept in the dark by Gotion and local officials who signed non-disclosure agreements that go against the public's right to know.
'The simple facts are that Gotion is a subsidiary of a company that pledges allegiance to the CCP and it should not be receiving taxpayer money to build in Michigan.
'For our state to welcome CCP investment in Michigan 100 miles from the same facility where the Michigan National Guard has worked with military officials from Taiwan is a dangerous double standard that puts national security at risk. This land purchase is the wrong direction for Michigan and our communities.'
The Gotion deal is the latest in a string of Chinese takeovers of US farmland in recent years.
In 2021 alone, five Chinese investors bought 14 parcels of US land covering almost 60,000 acres with a total value of $85million, according to Department of Agriculture data.
But there are signs communities and lawmakers are fighting back.
The mayor of Grand Forks, Minnesota, has said he will stop the US branch of Chinese firm Fufeng Group from building a $700million corn mill on the outskirts of the town after an Air Force official published a letter citing a security risk due to its proximity to an Air Force base.
Sun Guangxin's plans to buy more than 100,000 acres for a wind farm in Texas were blocked by officials.
In Congress, lawmakers have introduced bipartisan bills to block the ability of buyers from China, Russia, North Korea and Iran to purchase US agriculture.
Meanwhile, more than 20 states are considering measures aimed at restricting existing limits around foreign ownership of US farmland, according to the National Agricultural Law Center.
A graphic rendering of the battery plant Gotion seeks to build in Green Charter Township
A fence demarcates some of the disused farmland that Gotion had intitally sought to buy in the township, before they backed down in the face of local opposition
Residents are worried that a large industrial factory will disrupt the serenity of the community
But others have said the threat from Chinese land ownership is exaggerated. The proportion of US land controlled by Beijing doesn't represent a risk to the country's ability to feed itself, according to an analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Texas state Rep. Gene We (D.) has said the Chinese community is being scapegoated.
The Chinese Embassy has previously said the US stands to benefit from overseas investments and described talk of land purchases as a means of infiltration as a 'malicious generalization'.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D.) has welcomed Gotion's $2.4billion investment in Green Charter Township, which she said would create 2,350 'good-paying jobs'.
Jim Chapman, supervisor of Green Charter Township, told DailyMail.com that the 'majority' of residents saw the deal as 'an unbelievable economic opportunity' and accused those who opposed it of displaying a 'NIMBY attitude'.
He described Gotion, which was founded in China in 1998 before being incorporated in California in 2014, as 'truly an international company'.
Plans for the factory must now pass an environmental review by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.
Local entrepreneur Jeff Thorne, 64, is worried about the effects of possible chemical pollution from the Gotion plant on the nearby Muskegon River, a major artery for Lake Michigan
Kelly Cushway, 68, who bought his first farm in the township in 1977, says the plant does not belong in the 'quiet and peaceful' community
The Muskegon River runs through Green Charter Township and Big Rapids, MI
Residents have highlighted the potential toxicity of lithium production at the plant as a particular cause for concern.
Entrepreneur Jeffrey Thorne, 64, who has lived in the area for almost 40 years, highlighted the threat of chemical pollution to the Muskegon River, a major artery for Lake Michigan.
'There is a lot that's been said by politicians over the years about protecting our great lakes and yet here they're bringing a very toxic type of chemicals into our area,' he added.
'My daughter and son-in-law farm close to 2,000 acres of crop farming and just got into beef cattle farming so it just doesn't fit into the overall plan of the community we live in.'
Kelly Cushway, 68, who bought his first farm in the township in 1977, echoed his sentiments. 'It's a rural community. It's very quiet and peaceful here…I just can't imagine the town changing.'
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