Gotion, Inc. President and CEO Chen Li won’t say if he’s a member of the Chinese Communist Party.

Li is a member of the leadership — Senior Vice President — for Gotion High-Tech, the Chinese battery maker The Midwesterner exclusively exposed as being intertwined with the CCP, according to its own corporate documents.

Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial

Li would have to enforce its bylaws, which state the company must (page 47) establish a “Party Committee,” whose sole purpose is to ensure the company is adhering to Communist Party doctrine and furthering its objectives.

“The Party Committee of the Company shall perform its duties in accordance with the Constitution of the Communist Party of China and other Party regulations,” including, “Ensure and supervise the implementation of the Party’s guidelines, principles and policies in the Company, and implement major strategic decisions of the CPC (Communist Party of China) Central Committee and the State Council as well as relevant important work arrangements of the Party organization at the higher level”.

The Gotion corporate document also states that the company’s Party Committee shall “Strengthen the construction of Party organization and Party members at the grass-roots level of the Company” and oversee growing the “Communist Youth League and other mass work of the Company”.

In a radio interview this week, Gotion Vice President Chuck Thelen acknowledged that Li is “President” of Gotion, Inc. and a board member of Gotion High-Tech, the China-based mothership of the company’s global activities.

Gotion Vice President Chuck Thelen claimed on WBZX this week that Gotion CEO Chen Li has no "party affiliation" in China. But Li is a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, which is "under the leadership" of the Chinese Communist Party. pic.twitter.com/d5RsrvqjFq

— The Midwesterner (@Th_Midwesterner) March 30, 2023

Go Ad-Free, Get Content, Go Premium Today - $1 Trial

Thelen claimed Li has no “party affiliation” in China.

But a bio page on the World Economic Forum website says Li “is a member of the CPPCC of Baohe District in Hefei City.”

The Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference describes itself as “under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and an important means of promoting socialist democracy in China’s political activities.”

The Midwesterner emailed Li, asking whether he is a member of the CCP. He didn’t respond.

Chen Li is the son of Zhen Li, founder of Gotion High-Tech, according to corporate documents.

Zhen Li is the largest shareholder of Gotion High-Tech, owning 11.5 percent of shares, Market Screener reports.

Chen Li is the second largest shareholder, with 1.64 percent. His stock ownership has a value of $121.3 million.

In media appearances and legislative testimony, Thelen has sought to distance Gotion Inc. from Gotion High Tech, presumably because Gotion High Tech’s corporate values are contrary to those of the West. Li refused to say whether the “American” company would issue a statement denouncing communism and anti-freedom activities.

Meanwhile, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) and the Legislature continue the approval process for $715 million in cash and tax incentives for the Chinese company to build a 700-acre facility near Big Rapids.