State Rep. Neil Friske, R-Charlevoix, released a statement after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s recent announcement about the new Michigan Taiwan Office. Whitmer announced the office while on a trade mission to Taiwan and South Korea. The Taiwan office will be run by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

“Someone needs to tell the governor that if she truly wants to help Taiwan, she can start by clawing back the more than $1.8 billion in state incentives she doled out to the proxy company run by the government trying to wipe them off the map. The governor cannot claim support for Taiwan while funding the Chinese Communist Party in the background.”

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL) is one of the companies partnering with Ford to build the EV battery plant in Marshall. The project has been awarded more than $1.8 billion in state incentives.

Robin Zeng, founder and CEO of CATL, is a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference National Committee, a high-ranking advisory body to the Chinese Communist Party. The committee is officially tasked with gathering intelligence on, managing relations with, and attempting to influence elite individuals and organizations inside and outside China. Zeng previously held more than 25% of the company’s shares.

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