Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has faced intense scrutiny over comments that Republican lawmakers have called pro-China, including comments from the Democratic vice presidential candidate in an interview in which he said he didn’t agree with the idea that the U.S. should be hostile toward a communist government.
Waltz briefly taught in China and went to Guangdong province on the Teachers Abroad Program in 1989 to teach English and American history. He later went on to serve as a member of Congress and governor of Minnesota.
The Wall Street JournalCiting local media reports, the report said he had visited China once in 1994, which was also his honeymoon, and that he had planned his wedding date to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.
In a 2016 interview, Waltz said he believed there was potential for a strong relationship between China and the United States, but also said China needed to “play by the rules” on human rights and environmental issues.
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Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz appear onstage together during a campaign event at Girard College on August 6, 2024 in Philadelphia. (Andrew Harnick/Getty Images)
“I’ve lived in China and, as I said, I’ve been there about 30 times. … I don’t think we necessarily need to have an adversarial relationship with China. I totally disagree and I think we need to be firm about their actions in the South China Sea, but there are many areas where we can cooperate,” he said. Interview Partnered with Agri-Pulse Communications.
In an interview, he said he serves on the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Committee on China, which focuses on human rights issues.
Waltz, who taught in the same year that the Communist regime cracked down on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square, has since founded a company that organizes trips to China and, as he said in his remarks, has visited the country dozens of times and hosts summer educational trips to China. New York Post After his first visit, he reportedly said, “No matter how long I live, I’ll never be treated so well again.”
This has drawn criticism from some on the right who see Waltz as soft on the threat from the Chinese Communist Party.
“Communist China is [Walz] As Kamala’s running mate.”
“Nobody is more passionate about China than Waltz the Marxist,” Grenell said.
James Hutton, a former undersecretary for veterans affairs, said Walz “doesn’t see China as an issue.”
“This man will have to learn the truth about the brutal nature of Beijing’s dictatorship. Communist tyranny may not be a bad thing for Waltz, but the world knows: Waltz is dangerous.”
“Tim Walz owes the American people an explanation for his extraordinary 35-year relationship with the Chinese Communist Party,” said Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas.
A Chinese flag is raised behind two security cameras outside the Central Government Building in Hong Kong, China, on July 7, 2020. (Roy Liu/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Harris’ campaign and some Democrats have pushed back against those criticisms.
“Throughout his career, Governor Walz has stood up to the Chinese Communist Party, fought for human rights and democracy, and always put American jobs and manufacturing first. Republicans are twisting basic facts, praising dictators and lying desperately to distract from the Trump-Vance Administration’s policies to relocate American jobs to China,” spokesman James Singer said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“Vice President Harris and Governor Walz will ensure we prevail in our competition with China and will always defend our values and interests in the face of the Chinese threat.”
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Others, including Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin, have noted that Waltz has criticized China for the cultural genocide it has perpetrated in Tibet and Xinjiang in 2009, accompanied House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on her visit to Tibet and met with the Dalai Lama, and has co-sponsored resolutions on key human rights issues.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) told The Washington Post that his selection was “affirmation that the Harris-Waltz administration will continue to make human rights a key part of the U.S.-China relationship.”
Meanwhile, on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, opinions were divided over what Waltz’s election meant.
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“I think he should run for president,” one user said.
“In 2014, he said in an interview with US media that he was ‘very concerned about human rights and democracy in China’. He was also a member of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. He has bad intentions,” another person said.
Fox News’ Eric Michael Smith contributed to this report.
