‘This Is Our Town’—Inside a Small-Town’s Battle Against a Giant Chinese Battery Plant

Chinese-linked Gotion’s intentions to move in has Manteno, Illinois, residents worried about local leaders, toxic chemicals, and the Chinese Communist Party.

Illustration by The Epoch Times, Benjamin Dziechciowski, The Epoch Times/Nathan Worcester, Chris Light, Shutterstock

MANTENO, Ill.—Two common signs stood out on the front lawns and street corners of Manteno, Illinois, on Dec. 13: “Keep Christ in Christmas,” sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, and “Choose Manteno: No Go on Gotion!”

Ten miles south of where Chicago’s suburban sprawl finally ends, Manteno is the latest battleground over Chinese companies coming to middle America—in this case, the electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturer Gotion Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of China’s Gotion (or Guoxuan) High-Tech Co.