Economy Small Michigan town votes out entire Town gov. for approving Chinese battery plant

[MicroBrew]

- Small Michigan town of Green Charter Township voted out their entire town government.
- The Town officials approved the construction of a battery plant by a Chinese company
- The locals do not want the plant
- Some of the locals do not want the plant because it is connected to the CCP
- Company denies links to the CCP but their own company statements say they will carry out CCP party activities
- Investment was reputed to be in the neighborhood of around $2.34 billion. Company claims thousands of jobs were going to be created
- The people didn't want the plant but the Town board went against the peoples' wishes

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...rnment-over-chinese-factory-plans/ar-AA1jAUv6


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Other than people not wanting CCP influence, it may also be that the locals didn't want their quiet small town become overwhelmed by people (understandable), real estate prices rising, more congestion etc..

This seems like the kind of story that everyone (left, right, liberal, conservative) could agree on.

 

[JudoThrowFiasco]

That's democracy; for better or for worse

 

[Zazen]

I doubt it had to do with the connections to the CCP. How many people are that dialed into international politics? Small communities are very protective of their culture which is fine. I think that’s most likely the reason . They probably didn’t want to be outnumbered by a bunch of Chinese workers and see their town demographics change dramatically

 

[Bunk Moreland]

It says in the article that the company owns the land. I’d imagine this goes to court.

 

[MicroBrew]

It says in the article that the company owns the land. I’d imagine this goes to court.

Yeah.

Thing is though, just how hard does the company want to fight this. It is bad P.R. for them to be seen as picking on a small town.

 

[MicroBrew]

I doubt it had to do with the connections to the CCP. How many people are that dialed into international politics? Small communities are very protective of their culture which is fine. I think that’s most likely the reason . They probably didn’t want to be outnumbered by a bunch of Chinese workers and see their town demographics change dramatically

I forgot to add pollution as another huge factor that concerns people. I expect a battery plant is going to be spewing out a shit ton of very bad stuff into the air, ground and watershed. They will claim they are meeting EPA standards, but American history is full of large companies fcuking up the environment.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Yeah.

Thing is though, just how hard does the company want to fight this. It is bad P.R. for them to be seen as picking on a small town.

Could be. But they could spin it to say they’re using USA laws the way they should be used. If the land is actually theirs. This is just speculation on my part.

Or the company could move to another small town.

 

[Rob Battisti]

I doubt it had to do with the connections to the CCP. How many people are that dialed into international politics? Small communities are very protective of their culture which is fine. I think that’s most likely the reason . They probably didn’t want to be outnumbered by a bunch of Chinese workers and see their town demographics change dramatically

Sounds like they’re racist and xenophobic.

 

[Zazen]

Sounds like they’re racist and xenophobic.

That’s a stupid assumption and even if they’re they still have a right to vote how they want, don’t see the issue with what I said

 

[Fluffernutter]

How much would this battery plant impact the local environment?

 

[ShadowRun]

Sounds like they’re racist and xenophobic.

Yea pretty much confirmed, racist have a vote too in USA

 

[Belaya Smert]

Any and every Chinese company that does business in China is a propaganda arm of the government.

 

[Rob Battisti]

Yea pretty much confirmed, racist have a vote too in USA

We should take suffrage away from racist whites

 

[oldshadow]

First they should not be allowed to own the land.

Then the town should pull any support they can legally. Then also put up any legal road block they can.

 

[Poon Goon]

I didn't expect "build a battery plant" to be on the list of things that you shouldn't try in a small town, but I'm okay with it.

 

[Thrawn33]

If a town can stop you from building a porch without a permit, I'd guess they can stop a battery factory owned by a foreign power.....

And good on the voters for giving their officials the boot.

 

[fedorthegoat777]

The old Town government has that CCP cash now, they will get a bigger house elsewhere.

 

[tastaylvr]

I thought gentrification was always a good thing?

 

[tastaylvr]

Sounds like they’re racist and xenophobic.

“Right now, we are not on friendly terms with China. They are threatening us. I consider them the enemy. I don’t want them here, either,” resident Harry King said.

I doubt he can point to China on a map but it is what it is.

 

[Cirris]

The claims are 1000 jobs created. The town itself probably has about 1000 total. yeah there's two small cities nearby but your only looking at another 20k total population. That and the one city has a large college campus it serves. So where are they going to get the workers?? the area is almost already served by the college and dozens of smaller businesses.

Factories like that one don't go to the middle of nowhere and try and import a workforce. They generally set up shop in a large area where they can draw from a large employment pool.

Also, if the company is Chinese, and not from Taiwan, it's definitely a CCP aligned entity.

Never mind the fact the locals sound like paranoid rednecks. They should be concerned that this project doesn't add up.