Pritzker's China Issue
Governor JB Pritzker speaks Friday at the announcement of a new EV battery plant in Kankakee County. Gotion, which received hundreds of millions in state subsidies, is a Chinese company under scrutiny in some sectors. (Photo: Kankakee Daily-Journal)
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When Governor JB Pritzker stood on a stage with executives from Chinese manufacturer Gotion Friday, he attempted to play up the new jobs and new electric vehicle manufacturing coming to Illinois.
But, Pritzker’s office announced in tandem that Gotion can receive some $330 million in incentives, some eyes started peering at who Gotion is.
Gotion, which is affiliated with Volkswagen, but its parent company has ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
Pritzker’s office is already starting damage control.
Alex Gough, Governor Pritzker’s protective spokesman, tweeted Monday all preemptively trying to blame any potential issues on Republicans.
“Gotion’s US operation is California based and majority-owned by Volkswagen,” he tweeted. “The only controversy here is Republican opposition to IL job growth and American manufacturing.”
Except that isn’t exactly true.
Andrew Adams, a very talented reporter for Capitol News Illinois, essentially debunked Gough’s arguments in a Twitter thread Monday.
Gotion has filed necessary documents under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which essentially shows VW owns 25% of the company, but the parent company “Gotion Hi Tech” is deeply affiliated with the communist party in China.
“The Governor is going to need to get out in front of this,” one business leader told The Illinoize on condition of anonymity. “He asked the General Assembly for hundreds of millions to close business deals and he’s immediately giving a big chunk to the Chinese government. It’s hard to sell that.”
Pritzker has not spoken publicly since Friday’s announcement.
