China is a potential issue in the Senate race in Michigan between Mike Rogers and Elissa Slotkin

Foreign policy is rarely a topic in the US Senate election campaign. However, in the Senate election in Michigan, there is increasing harsh talk about the Chinese Communist Party.

Michigan, a key swing state in the 2024 general election, will vote this year on a successor to outgoing Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow. Although the primary is on August 6, the race has emerged between Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin and former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers — the leading contenders for their parties’ nominations — both of whom have attacked the CCP with a frequency unusual for this year’s Senate races.

“The decisions of Beijing and the Chinese Communist Party will have far greater impact than those of Washington. The President and Congress have their hands tied; their power is limited by Beijing’s actions on the international stage,” Rogers wrote on his campaign website. “(This) means we will scrutinize investments, apps and technologies from China much more closely and not be afraid to use the power of government to protect the American people.”

Rogers has accused Slotkin of doing business with China-linked battery maker Gotion, which has been accused by Congress of allegedly using the “slave labor” of Uighur Muslims in China’s Xinjiang province. According to Fox News, Slotkin signed a nondisclosure agreement with the company in 2023 to discuss its plans to build an electric vehicle battery factory in Michigan.

“It’s outrageous that @ElissaSlotkin signed a secret agreement to pay billions of taxpayer dollars to these Chinese companies,” Rogers wrote on X, formerly Twitter, in June. Slotkin has reportedly declined to comment on the nondisclosure agreement, Fox reported.

Slotkin has now focused her advocacy on the CCP on the perceived threat posed by Chinese-made vehicles in the state.

“The idea of ​​Chinese connected vehicles — autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles, trucks, autonomous trucks — coming to the United States is no longer a fantasy. It’s no longer the stuff of science fiction,” Slotkin said in May. “It’s become my new mission to put up national security hurdles to these vehicles coming to the United States. We cannot allow them to gain a foothold in the United States.”

In June, Slotkin introduced a bill in the House that would allow the Commerce Department to block sales of “connected vehicles” made by Chinese manufacturers, the latest of several bills she has introduced this year targeting Chinese business deals.

Manufacturing, especially of cars, is a sensitive issue in Michigan, which has long been home to the U.S. auto industry and many of its unionized workers. Competition from China in vehicle manufacturing is a major undertone in Slotkin’s rhetoric. On her website, she promises she will “bring critical supply chains and manufacturing back to the country.”

Both Rogers and Slotkin have cited their professional experience in national security to bolster their credibility in the fight against China.

Rogers began his career as a U.S. Army officer and FBI agent before serving 14 years in Congress, including four years as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, which oversees all U.S. intelligence agencies and activities. “Mike made his mark in Congress most notably through his service as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. He was one of the first to warn of the economic and national security threat posed by China,” Rogers’ website states.

Slotkin, on the other hand, praises her work as an analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency, which deployed her three times to Iraq and to the National Security Council under President George W. Bush. During the Obama administration, she served as assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs.

Michigan’s race is one of several contested Senate races this year, with polls showing Slotkin ahead of Rogers in a hypothetical general election matchup.

Slotkin and Rogers’ campaign teams did not immediately respond to requests for comment.