Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin made an alarming claim during an interview with Fox News host Maria Baritromo over the weekend stating China was attempting a “trojan horse” strategy to obtain access to U.S. taxpayer benefits.
This information came out during their discussion regarding his decision to deny a multi-billion dollar electric car factory from Ford to move to the Commonwealth due to it’s tight connections to China.
According to Youngkin, the factory would have been overseen by a Chinese-based company called Contemporary Amperex Technology, and would have been a “Trojan horse structure to gain access to taxpayer incentives” provided by legislation which was passed under the previous Democrat majority which currently still gives tax credits to electric vehicle owners and manufacturers alike.
The Governor stated that “this is using taxpayer money to further enrich a Chinese company at the expense of America. It’s just not happening in Virginia. This should be an American supply chain that’s trusted, not one that’s outsourced to the Chinese Communist Party.”
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Shifty Deal
The Ford plant, which was already under consideration to have been constructed in Pittsylvania County, would have constructed the lithium iron phosphate batteries required for electric vehicles, and was predicted to have employed up to 2,500 estimated workers. However, Youngkin upon further investigation rejected the $3.5 billion effort in January.
“The consortium of of Ford and CATL were hoping to build a plant, as reported and confirmed by Ford, where Ford would build the building, but a company that is majorly influenced by the Chinese Communist Party was going to operate the plant, and the employees were going to work for the Chinese Communist Party controlled company,” Youngkin said last month when justifying his decision.
Youngkin continued, stating “They were going to use that in order to try to tap into taxpayer benefits at state level as well as the federal level that were specifically designated for non-Chinese Communist Party entities.” He added that the details of the proposed deal were “a bit deceptive.”
The Virginia based Cardinal News reached out to Ford regarding the claims and obtained a response from Melissa Miller, the government and public policy communications manager for Ford who stated that the details of the potential plan discussed were “inaccurate.”
“Ford had not yet made a site decision,” Miller said to Cardinal News.
In a text message to reporters at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Youngkin said that “Virginia did not win the project” because “We removed ourselves from consideration in an ongoing process.”
Still, whether Virginia was a potential contender or not, Ford has still not commented on the claims regarding its ties to the CCP controlled company which would have managed the plant.
Youngkin’s spokeswoman Macaulay Porter also spoke out on this issue when asked by the press.
“While Ford is an iconic American company, it became clear that this proposal would serve as a front for the Chinese Communist Party, which could compromise our economic security and Virginian’s personal privacy,” She said. “Virginians can be confident that companies with known ties to the Chinese Communist Party won’t receive a leg up from the Commonwealth’s economic incentive packages. When the potentially damaging effects of the deal were realized, the plant proposal never reached a final discussion stage.”
YES! Gov. Glenn Youngkin said he will sign a bill that will block the Chinese Communist Party from buying farmland in Virginia.
— Cassandra (@CassyWearsHeels) February 27, 2023
Democrats Deflect
Virginia Democrats blasted Youngkin for killing the discussions with Ford, claiming that he intentionally tried to highlight the Chinese connection at a time when tensions between the United States and China are at an all time high in order to boost his name recognition nationwide for a potential White House run in 2024.
“To deny [people in the community] jobs because you’re in last place in Republican presidential primaries [is] gubernatorial malpractice,” said state Sen. Scott Surovell to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “I mean, this is clearly just obvious to me that the governor’s in some kind of out-China-bashing-contest with [Ron] DeSantis and Governor Greg Abbott out of Texas.”
Do you think Youngkin made the best call regarding pulling out of the conversations with Ford? Let us know in the comments below and across social media.
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