In Michigan, a major company is promising to build a new factory, invest billions and bring in more than 2,000 jobs. It quite possibly could change the fortune of one of the state’s poorest areas.

But as badly as they may need jobs, many residents have risen up to fight the plans. And now the small township is a major focal point in a national battle over jobs and national security.

On my trip to Michigan, Chuck Thelen showed me a desolate plot of land in Green Charter Township, an hour’s drive north of Grand Rapids. He’ll be general manager of a giant factory to be built there by a company called Gotion, to make parts for electric car batteries.

Gotion has become a national flashpoint over its founder’s connection to China.

“The founder of the company — he’s the second highest stockholder,” Thelen told me. “He is Chinese. But there’s no ownership from the PRC or government entity. It’s all private.”

I pressed Thelen on whether there was any connection to the Chinese government or Chinese Communist Party.

“They have rules and regulations like any other country — which we abide by the rules of every country where we’re at. Just theirs tend to be a little stiffer,” he said. “But they do not own or operate the company.”

Nonetheless, there are signs many are worried. The debate has stirred bitter sentiments and upended local politics. A year ago, voters booted Republicans who backed the Gotion plant from the town council in a special election.

Bruce Borkovich, a Republican, is running for supervisor in nearby Big Rapids Township where worries over Chinese interests have bled over.

“We have many credible, very credible, sources who say that the Chinese government — not the Chinese people, we’re not against the Chinese people, but the Chinese government — is a threat to our existence,” Borkovich said. “And in particular, if this plant is built, they are certain that it will be used to attack our cybersecurity and our intellectual property. Not likely, or highly likely — they are certain that that will happen.”

There was a lot more enthusiasm for the project when it first began, Borkovich said.

“It was very much, ‘Wow, here’s an opportunity to bring a big company and provide a lot of jobs, benefits, a real shot-in-the-arm to the economy,'” he said. “But then as we drill down and think about the environmental risks, and then, in particular, the security risks that we’ve now been educated to, I don’t think it belongs anywhere on American soil.”

Opponents have seized upon a controversial provision in Gotion’s articles of incorporation, which Thelen addressed.

“In China — that you have to allow for the Communist Party to assemble in your place of business if you have three or more employees that work there that are CCP members. That’s what it refers to,” he said. “I’ve never seen or heard any ideals expressed by the management or the people working in this company, so no, it does not concern me.”

In Green Charter Township, Michigan, it boils down to jobs versus national security. After a recall election, the new township supervisor, Jason Kruse, and the new board tried to reverse course on the plant. Gotion sued, and a federal judge ordered them to resume the contract. The township is appealing.

What comes next is anybody’s guess.

“Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson” airs at 10 a.m. Sunday, WJLA (Channel 7) and WBFF (Channel 45).