An investigation by the Daily Caller News Foundation has found that Minnesota Governor Tim Waltz, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, appointed members of a political faction that has pledged loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to a state commission that advises the government on Asian American issues.
Waltz First Appointed Chang Wang, a resident of Minnesota, lawyerIn May 2020, Wang was elected to the Council of Asian Pacific Minnesotans.Interim ChairThe Minnesotan Asian Pacific Citizens Council advises the Governor, Legislature and other state agencies in advancing economic, social, legal and political equality for Asian Pacific Minnesotans. According to Wang's term ends in January 2025.
The council spent more than $500,000 of taxpayer money in 2023. According to In annual reports.
However, DCNF found in its Chinese government investigation that Wang was also a member of the China Association for the Promotion of Democracy (CAPD) for over a decade. noticeUniversity of Minnesota Archives record Chinese Publications It was written by Wang himself.
The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference is one of the few Chinese alternative political parties permitted to operate in the communist country. Like other minority political parties in China, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference is “loyal” to the Communist Party of China and continues to “function within the organization of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).” The CPPCC is China's highest political advisory body. According to to the Library of Congress Federal Research Division.
The CAPD is permitted to operate in China based on the organization's pledge to be “closely aligned” with the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee and to serve as an adviser and assistant to the Chinese Communist Party. According to This was reported by China's state-run news agency, Xinhua.
Since joining the Minnesota Legislature, Wang has been recognized by the Chinese government on multiple occasions, including: Grant Give him the title and even accept A policy research proposal he submitted. (RELATED: Exclusive: Unearthed video shows Democratic lawmaker once praising Chinese Communist Party official's “leadership”)
“My elderly parents are my only connection to China,” Wang told DCNF in an email when asked about his affiliation with CAPD. Wang's profile on the University of Minnesota website does not currently mention any affiliation with CAPD, but an archived version shows do.
Wang previously said According to China Insight, his parents are “senior scientists” at the Academia Sinica. Historical The name of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), which reports directly to China's State Council and “much of its work contributes to military products.” According to To the U.S. Department of Defense.
Steve Yates, director of the China Policy Initiative at the America First Institute and a former Chinese-language analyst for the National Security Agency, said the agency is a “privileged institution” that is “highly monitored by the Chinese Communist Party.”
“Having parents in that organization basically means they're not just people, they're family,” Yates told DCNF.
Wang has previously said He works as a senior associate professor of law at the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing, whose website still operates today. list They hired him as a teacher.
Neither Waltz's office nor the Harris-Waltz campaign responded to multiple requests for comment.
Walz's close ties to China and his political mechanisms have recently come under intense scrutiny from Republican lawmakers such as Rep. James Comer of Kentucky. Sent In a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray, they requested information about “any Chinese entities or individuals with which Mr. Waltz may have been involved or affiliated.”
Comer's letter said Walz has visited China about 30 times and even worked at the Macau Polytechnic University while in Congress. Media reports have also unearthed past comments from Walz that appear to have praised Chinese Communism. For example, he was reported to have told a group of high school students in 1991 that communism is “about everyone being the same and everyone sharing.”
More recently, the DCNF reported that Walz has attended numerous events hosted by members of Minnesota nonprofits affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party's influence and intelligence services. In other instances, the DCNF found that members of the nonprofits and affiliated organizations hosted fundraisers for Walz's 2022 reelection as governor.
“translation: It can explain one or two facts, but not patterns and Daily Caller Just last week, an investigation was dropped that showed Walz had regular contact with a Communist Party front organization in Minnesota.
So, going back to the 1990s… pic.twitter.com/SSeuTVA9in
— Philip Lenczycki Cai Yue (@LenczyckiPhilip) August 29, 2024
“You would think there would be some kind of review” of Walz's appointment of Wang, Yates said.
“What added value does an individual with ties to that entity in China bring to the American people or the people of Minnesota? And why would a governor with generations of experience traveling in and out of the People's Republic of China want to give privileged access to an individual from that world to advise Minnesota's leadership on any issue,” Yates told DCNF.
“It has nothing to do with democracy”
Although CAPD has the word “democracy” in its name, explain The CCP describes itself as “a political party that accepts the leadership of the Communist Party of China and cooperates with it as a participant in socialism with Chinese characteristics,” and describes its members as mainly intellectuals active in academia, science, the media and related fields.
“When you engage with an organization from a communist country that uses the word 'democracy' as a slogan, the chances are almost 100% that they are not actually interested in democracy,” Yates told DCNF. “You're talking about an organization whose purpose is to engage with people and groups in the free world on behalf of the supreme authority in China, the Communist Party of China.”
John Dotson, vice president of the Global Taiwan Institute, told DCNF that CAPD is “one of what the Chinese Communist Party calls the 'eight democratic parties' that work alongside the ruling Chinese Communist Party to give Taiwan a semblance of pluralism.” [Chinese] system.”
“Anyone who is a member of any of the 'Eight Democrats' is considered a member of the Chinese Communist Party and should follow the party's instructions and so on,” said Dotson, the former U.S. Navy intelligence officer.
DCNF confirmed Wang's membership in CAPD through a review of multiple archived documents. English and Chinese profile.
The University of Minnesota China Center's website, for example, features an archived version of Wang's 2022 biography. Identified He is “one of 25 members of the Central Civil Judicial Committee of the China Association for the Promotion of Democracy, the third-largest political party in mainland China.”
At some point January and July In 2023, Wang's affiliation with a Chinese political party was removed from his China Center biography.
The China Center did not respond to DCNF's request for comment.
CAPD's Chinese website is still name The ministry listed Wang as a member of the Central Civil Judicial Commission and said he was also a professor at the Institute of Comparative Law at China University of Political Science and Law.
The king is now Listed He is listed as a faculty member on the website of the China University of Political Science and Law, and his title at the school is also listed in several online resumes, including as an author at Barnes & Noble. Bioand in 2019 Interview It is listed on his law firm's website.
Wang also teaches at the Sao Paulo Law School in Brazil and his online biography states: say “[s]Since 2007, he has been a member of the Central Civil and Judicial Committee of the China Association for the Promotion of Democracy (CAPD), China's fourth largest political party.” Wang's affiliation with a law school in Brazil is attention From a social media post by China University of Political Science and Law.
In fact, Wang's current biography on the University of Minnesota website reads: state He has “served as an adjunct or visiting professor at law and business schools in the United States, China, Austria, Australia, Italy, Switzerland and Brazil,” although the resume does not identify the specific schools with which he is associated.
[Screenshots of websites of University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans]
“National Advanced Information Workers”
The Chinese government Recognized King's contribution A DCNF investigation found that this happened at least twice.
CAP Awarded In November 2021, more than a year after Governor Walz first appointed Wang to the State Council on Asian American Affairs in May 2020, Wang was awarded the title of “National Advanced Information Worker Reflecting Social Sentiments and Public Opinion.”
A check on the CAPD website showed that the list of winners was compiled in December 2020, but was not officially announced until 2021.
CAPD established this award Praise “Outstanding achievements and contributions” related to a memorandum issued by the Communist Party of China Central Committee in 2021 instructing China's eight “democratic parties” to expand the practice of “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.”
U.S. Department of Defense explain “Xi Jinping Thought” is the Chinese dictator's “eponymous ideology.”
In July 2021, the Chinese government's Supreme People's Procuratorate Announced Wang's legal research proposal on international cybercrime was selected as the research project. Teaching position At China University of Political Science and Law.
The Supreme People's Procuratorate provides Chinese government grants of about $7,000 to selected research projects, according to the department's website. state.
The Procuratorate is responsible for legal supervision and prosecution in China. According to To the Chinese government.
“This entity in China has functions related to the prosecution of people within China and generally oversight of rule of law issues,” Yates told DCNF.
Wang did not respond to DCNF questions about whether prosecutors approved his research proposal or the associated award.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has attended several events hosted by the Council of Asian Pacific Minnesotans, including the 2022 Asian Pacific Minnesotans Leadership Awards Dinner, where the Governor was photographed with Zhang Wang and others. [Image created by the DCNF with photo from CAPM’s Facebook]
“An assistant to the Chinese Communist Party”
In addition to collaborating with the Chinese Communist Party, CAPD has several ties to the Chinese government, including operating as a “member of the Patriotic United Front.” According to To that website.
The United Front represents the CCP's “unique combination of engagement, influence, and intelligence activities to shape the political environment at home and to influence the foreign policies of other countries.” [China] It will give us access to advanced foreign technology.” According to Presented to the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.
CAPD members also serve as delegates to the Chinese government's united front organ, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). According to Go to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference website. English Charter of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference state Party representatives said they must “uphold the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the cause of socialism,” “utilize the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference as a united front organization,” and “protect state secrets.”
“In reality, these eight nominal parties are merely appendages to the Chinese Communist Party and play a front role in forums such as the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference,” Dotson said.
Gordon Chang, a China expert and author, told DCNF that Walz's history of travel to China and his association with Chinese Communist Party acquaintances raises the question of why the governor would appoint a member of a party endorsed by the Chinese Communist Party to the Minnesota executive branch.
“Just because Waltz appointed a CCP stooge doesn't automatically make him a CCP sympathizer,” Chang said. “But who else but a CCP sympathizer would do that?”
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