Congressman Jake LaTurner (R-Kan.) is raising alarms over plans by the U.S. arm of a Chinese materials technology company to build a new facility near key U.S. national security installations.
“They have very strong connections to the CCP through their 863 program, they’ve received financing, their CEO has spoken to [China’s communist-controlled legislature],” Mr. LaTurner told Epoch Times sister media outlet NTD’s “China in Focus.”
“They want to invest $100 million into Kansas and [create] 100 new jobs. That all sounds great if you’re not paying attention to the details,” Mr. LaTurner said.
Chinese investments and development projects within the United States have come under heightened scrutiny in recent years, with concerns about agents of the Chinese regime cribbing U.S. research breakthroughs and intellectual property.
“It’s incredibly concerning. And you’ve seen a pattern of behavior. With China setting up companies buying land near our military installations,” Mr. LaTurner said.
Fort Leavenworth, which he described as “the intellectual hub of the United States Army,” is the home to the Army’s Combined Arms Center. The base is also home to the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, which teaches graduate-level command and leadership courses for military officers.
“When I talk about Fort Leavenworth, for example, being the intellectual hub of the United States Army, the way we teach our officers, the research that goes into forming strategy, is a very big deal and something that we need to protect,” Mr. LaTurner said. “And so I have grave concerns about this company, and we are going to stay on this until something is done. We cannot allow [it] no matter how great it sounds with the investment in the new jobs. We have to stop China’s infiltration of our country.”
He said the new Cnano facility also raises concerns about CCP efforts to infiltrate and subvert U.S. supply chains.
“We have a giant investment that came into our state with the new Panasonic plant to manufacture batteries for EVs [electric vehicles]. And this company Cnano, they manufacture glue that goes into batteries, and so they’re wanting to be a part of the supply chain,” Mr. LaTurner said. “That frankly is thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars of investment into our state, something that is very important to us. We need to make sure that we protect the research done in our state, the intellectual property that we have, and of course ... our national security.”
NTD News reached out to Cnano for comment but didn’t receive a response by press time.
“We’re proud to bring cutting-edge technology, investment dollars and, most importantly, jobs to the region,” Cnano Technology USA President Shawn Montgomery said as the company announced its plans for the Johnson County facility in August 2023.
