A political storm has erupted in Virginia after the state’s Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin suggested a $3.5-billion battery factory for electric vehicles being considered by Ford Motor and China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) would be a front for the Chinese Communist Party that raises national security concerns, according to a report by AP, which said the governor’s Democrat rivals accused Youngkin of putting his political ambitions (for the 2024 presidential race) ahead of the chance to secure a major project that could generate 2,500 jobs.
Other local news outlets said Youngkin gave a speech on January 11 in which he said “dangerous foreign entities” tied to the CCP should be banned from purchasing farmland in Virginia. However AP noted that there was scepticism on whether Virginia really was a chance to get the Ford-CATL battery plant, because experts felt such a project was more likely to be located near Ford’s EV manufacturing plants in Mexico or near Detroit.
Read the full report: AP.
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