The Chinese parent firm of an American company seeking to build a manufacturing facility near several U.S. military bases scrubbed its website less than a week after a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation exposed the firms’ Chinese government ties.
The Chinese parent company of Cnano Technology USA (Cnano USA) removed all mention of the firm’s involvement in the Chinese government’s 863 Program, which the U.S. government has accused of working to steal U.S. technology, a DCNF review of the “About Us” page on the firm’s website found. The DCNF recently reported that Cnano USA intends to manufacture liquid conductive paste for electric vehicles and other devices at a forthcoming $95 million Kansas facility located just 35 miles from Fort Leavenworth and other Midwestern military sites. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Biden Admin Watered Down Vetting Process For Chinese Illegal Immigrants, Email Shows)
Cnano USA is a wholly-owned subsidiary of C-Nano Technology Co., Ltd., which, in turn, is an entity that China-based Cnano Jiangsu Technology Co., Ltd. (Cnano Jiangsu) established in the British Virgin Islands, the DCNF reported based on research conducted by The Heritage Foundation Oversight Project and Heritage Action.
On Dec. 22, 2023, the DCNF revealed that Cnano Jiangsu employs 28 Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members, promotes CCP ideology and that the company has also participated in the Chinese government’s so-called “863 Program,” which supports the development of China’s military and “provides funding and guidance for efforts to clandestinely acquire U.S. technology and sensitive economic information,” according to the U.S. Director of National Intelligence.
The DCNF’s report cited Cnano Jiangsu’s English-language website, which, at the time, stated that the firm had “undertaken a number of national 863” projects.
While an archived version of Cnano Jiangsu’s English-language website from Dec. 24 still notes the firm’s participation in the 863 Program, all mention of the firm’s participation had been inexplicably removed from the “About Us” page by Dec. 29.
Likewise, although Cnano Jiangsu’s Chinese-language website also previously noted the firm’s participation in the 863 Program, it too removed references to the program by Dec. 29.
However, a DCNF review found that Cnano Jiangsu’s Chinese-language website still briefly mentions the firm’s 863 Program participation within an old March 2020 job advertisement for a “research and development laboratory assistant” as well as within another April 2020 job advertisement for an “industrial technician.”
“The company has been approved to serve as a National Green Factory, a Jiangsu Provincial Nanomaterials Engineering Research and Development Center, a Jiangsu Provincial Enterprise Technology Center, a Jiangsu Provincial Postdoctoral Innovation Practice Base, and has successively undertaken National 863 and Provincial-Level Transformative Scientific and Technological Achievement programs,” both 2020 job advertisements state.
The DCNF recently reported that China’s Ministry of Science and Technology awarded Cnano Jiangsu at least $160,000 for its participation in the 863 Program, which “focuses on both military and civilian science and technology” and aims “to accelerate the acquisition and development of science and technology in the PRC,” according to a report from the Select Committee of the United States House of Representatives.
In addition to Cnano Jiangsu’s participation in the 863 Program, the DCNF also revealed that the firm’s CEO — Zheng Tao, who also heads Cnano USA — has met with the CCP’s United Front Work Department (UFWD) on several occasions.
The UFWD conducts “united front work,” which is a “blend of engagement, influence activities and intelligence operations” that the CCP employs to shape policy toward China and “gain access to advanced foreign technology,” according to the Select Committee on the CCP, whose chairman, Wisconsin Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher, described the intended facility as a “bad, bad idea.”
If and when completed, the facility will be located at the New Century Commerce Center in Johnson County, and is expected to create 112 jobs, the DCNF reported.
Cnano USA and Cnano Jiangsu’s head, Zheng Tao. [Screenshot/Haokan/电池中国CBEA]
Several other Republican lawmakers have also expressed concern about Cnano USA’s intended facility, including Kansas State Speaker Pro Tempore Blake Carpenter and Kansas Rep. Jake LaTurner, who posted on X that he’d “received an intelligence briefing” about Cnano USA and warned that companies with CCP ties “have intentionally infiltrated American supply chains and strategically positioned themselves near our most critical military installations.”
The Chinese Communist Party has no place in Kansas or anywhere in the United States. China and companies with CCP ties have intentionally infiltrated American supply chains and strategically positioned themselves near our most critical military installations.
As a member of the… pic.twitter.com/pQrJ22KS8O
— Rep. Jake LaTurner (@RepLaTurner) December 22, 2023
The DCNF’s investigation noted that in addition to being some 35 miles from Fort Leavenworth, Cnano USA’s intended facility will also be located approximately 70 miles from the “only operational base for the B-2,” Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.
Subsequently, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson banned individuals and groups tied to China from purchasing agricultural land near military installations on Jan. 2, 2024.
“With heightened concerns regarding ownership of Missouri farmland by foreign adversaries, especially China, we are signing this order to safeguard our military and intelligence assets, prevent security threats to our state and give Missourians greater peace of mind,” Parson said.
Cnano USA and Cnano Jiangsu did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
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