Fearing China ties, Kentucky residents skeptical of factory

HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. (NewsNation) — Farmers in the Hopkinsville area take great pride in their community’s soil — in fact, it’s some of the best in the country. Now, residents are concerned that a company rumored to be connected to China is trying to build on farmland near the military base of Fort Campbell.

Microvast, the company hoping to build in the heartland, makes batteries for electric vehicles. While they say they are not owned by China — nor connected to it — the U.S. Senate Committee on Science and Natural Resources has expressed concern over their CEO’s connection to China. Some Hopkinsville residents say the company has not been thoroughly vetted.

Farmer Caleb Ballard is proud of his land — and especially of his dirt: “It’s the good brown texture you want. It holds moisture,” Ballard told NewsNation.

To residents, it seemed like good news when Microvast planned to build a factory — and bring almost 600 jobs with it. The U.S. Department of Energy even awarded Microvast a $200 million grant.

Shortly after, however, the Senate committee in Washington started investigating and claimed at public hearings that Micorvast was connected to China.

Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., claimed during the hearing that 60% of Microvast’s revenue came from China and only 1% came from the U.S. He also claimed that the company’s CEO Yang Wu bragged that Microvast’s technology was developed in China, and asserted in the hearing that Wu was recruited by the Chinese Community Party.

Microvast declined a NewsNation request for an interview but in a statement on their website, they say they are not affiliated with the CCP.

“Microvast is based in Texas, its shares are traded on Nasdaq, and the operations for our global business are centralized in the U.S. Neither the Chinese government nor the Chinese Communist Party has any ownership in the Company, nor do they control or influence Company operations in any way,” the statement read in part.

Wu is a U.S. citizen and resides in the United States.

Nevertheless, lawmakers — and Ballard — say something doesn’t add up, starting with the Energy Department rescinding that $200 million grant.

“That really raised red flags,” Ballard said. “And local leaders were not saying a lot. And anytime local leaders are not saying a lot, there is more to be said.”

While government funding is cut, at least for now, for Microvast in Kentucky, just across the border in Tennessee, Microvast is expanding.

Construction is currently underway in Clarksville, Tennessee. A sign with a rendering of planned construction shows just how large the whole complex is expected to be. The project is well underway, despite criticism in Washington, and residents who feel left in the dark.

Ballard says he thinks the confusion is part of the goal.

“They want people to be ignorant to the fact it is going on,” he said.

Back across the border in Kentucky, the state has also put its funding for the Microvast project on hold and wants to know more about why the feds pulled their grant.