The Democratic ticket has been officially crowned by Congress, now all that remains is to face the few weeks that separate it from the presidential vote on November 5th.. Two months during which the goal is to try to convince undecided Americans to go to the polls and above all to snatch the consensus of those who thought they would support Donald Trump. In the meantime, the Republicans themselves have redesigned the electoral campaign, after Joe Biden’s exit from the scene, focusing on the “weaknesses” of the Harris-Walz duo.
And it is on the latter that attention has been focused in recent days, especially linked to the relations that the current Governor of Minnesota has with China, certainly not considered an ally even by a good part of the Democratic voters. The GOP (Grand Old Party), in fact, accuses Tim Walz of having “ambiguous” relations with Beijing. The Chairman of the US House Oversight Committee, James Comer, has also formally launched an investigation into the Democratic candidate for vice president, citing Walz’s past relationships with the Country of the Dragon. Comer, a Republican Party member and native of Kentucky, highlighted the “long-standing ties of the governor of Minnesota to entities and officials of the Chinese Communist Party”. He then asked the director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, for “information, documents and communications relating to entities and officials linked to the CCP” with whom Walz may have “engaged and collaborated”.
Comer’s suspicions, made public before the Commission he chairs, concern what has been defined as an “intimate relationship” with Beijing, where in 2007 Walz was also a fellow at the China Polytechnic University of Macao, underlining that even today the Governor maintains a “devotion to the CCP”. The relations with China, however, date back to the 80s and 90s. Walt, in fact, spent about a year in the People’s Republic, teaching in a high school thanks to the program WorldTeach of Harvard University. Upon his return and after marrying his colleague Gwen Whipple, a teacher at a high school in Nebraska, the two started a company called Educational Travel Adventuresspecializing in summer study trips for American students, right in China.
Comer cited Walz’s 30 visits to China since 1989, explaining that “The American people deserve to fully understand the depth of Governor Walz’s relationship with China.” Republican Ron Johnson, originally from Wisconsin, went further, highlighting the coincidence of Walz’s wedding date, June 4, 1989, the day of the Tiananmen massacre, as if it were a “tribute” to the Chinese people. Democrats responded immediately, branding Johnson’s theses as “conspiracy theories” and instead recalling that Walz also met the Dalai Lama during his travels. It was 2016 and on that occasion the Governor of Minnesota had also chosen to speak with some human rights activists from Hong Kong.
The fact remains that Walz’s Minnesota “has international offices in six locations – Canada, Japan, the European Union, the United Kingdom, ASEAN and China – as well as seven partner representations on five continents,” according to the local Chamber of Commerce. The list may not be surprising, but it is associated with the strong presence of Chinese investment in the state. Overall, Chinese represent the third largest community in non-native Americanswith about 43 thousand people out of the 240 thousand Asians who live in the State. But what is worrying is the expansion of Chinese companies, especially in the agricultural sector, with a massive campaign of land purchases.
It is no coincidence that last spring the local newspaper MinnPost devoted an article to this topic, which also cited a proposed law, signed by Republican Pete Stauber, which provides for a ban on the acquisition of agricultural land for citizens of the People’s Republic of China. Confirming the close relations between Walz and China, moreover, it was Comer who cited the participation of the Governor and now vice-presidential candidate Walz in an event of the non-profit organization US-China Peoples Friendship Association in 2019. Walz’s presence, although not mentioned in the Chinese embassy’s press release, was “proven” by a photo in which he appears with Consul General Zhao Jian, of the Beijing mission in Chicago, commented by Walz himself as an opportunity to “exchange opinions” on Sino-American relations and subnational cooperation.
Case closed? Not at all: Fox Newstraditionally close to the GOP, titled a recent article with the disturbing question: Is Tim Walz a Sleeper Agent for China?Throughout the Democratic convention, there was also no shortage of interventions on the TV channel by presenters and supporters of Trump who discussed Walz’s “integrity” and whether he is “coached” by Beijing. There were also those who questioned the possibility that the Chinese government has confidential personal information on the vice-presidential candidate chosen by Kamala Harris. At the moment, these are pure suppositions and speculations, because there is no concrete evidence, but that is enough to fuel the debate awaiting the TV confrontations scheduled for October, first of all the one between JD Vance and Walz, during which the “China question” is very likely to take center stage.
