The Biden-Harris administration gave a six-figure subsidy to a China-linked electric vehicle company in late 2022 and, roughly a year later, its president showered the Democratic presidential ticket with tens of thousands of dollars in donations, records show.
BYD Americas received $395,000 through the Biden-Harris administration’s Clean School Bus program in October 2022, according to Environmental Protection Agency documents. Ke Li, the president of BYD Americas, then made four large donations to support President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign on Nov. 14, 2023, funds that were transferred to Vice President Kamala Harris in July after the president dropped out of the election, campaign finance disclosures show.
The Biden-Harris administration has long touted its electric vehicle agenda as a way to revitalize American manufacturing and to counter Chinese economic growth. Much of the government’s spending to boost the industry, however, has been a financial boon for China as Chinese companies benefit from taxpayer-funded subsidies.
Li gave $33,400 to the Biden Victory Fund, which has since become the Harris Victory Fund, and made two $3,300 donations to the Biden Campaign, now the Harris campaign, on the same day, according to campaign finance records. (RELATED: Biden Admin Pumps $900 Million Into Green School Buses As America’s Students Continue To Struggle)
Li’s donation to the Democratic presidential ticket following the subsidy payment, which the Washington Free Beacon reported Thursday, isn’t the first instance of her donating to politicians who provide her company with taxpayer-funded contracts.
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, for instance, awarded BYD a $990 million no-bid contract to provide his state with masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. BYD had no history of manufacturing masks, or any personal protective equipment, but received the contract regardless. BYD is BYD Americas’ China-based parent company.
Li donated a total of $50,000 to Newsom’s 2018 and 2022 gubernatorial campaigns, according to state campaign contribution records. The BYD Americas president is identified by her company as a Chinese national with other company documents indicating she has a “right of abode” in the United States, the Free Beacon reported.
While foreign nationals generally cannot contribute to political campaigns, green card holders may do so, according to the Federal Election Commission.
An employee works at a factory that produces car parts in Lianyungang, in eastern China’s Jiangsu province. (Photo by STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images)
BYD, the parent company, is involved in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a massive global infrastructure project designed to boost China’s influence in countries where it is present, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. The company is also subsidized by the Chinese government, QZ reported.
Congress launched a probe into BYD and other Chinese automakers over espionage concerns on Sept. 11, the Free Beacon reported.
Other BYD Americas executives, as well as the company itself, have poured campaign funds on Democrats and pro-Democratic groups as liberals expand the United States’ electric vehicle infrastructure and continue working to phase out gas vehicles, records show.
The Biden-Harris administration spent hundreds of millions of dollars showering BYD Americas and other electric vehicle companies with cash to produce electric school buses while American public schools continued to produce subpar academic outcomes.
The Harris campaign and BYD Americas did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
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