Walz, 60, first went to China after graduating from faculty in 1989, spending a yr instructing English and American historical past and tradition at a highschool within the southern Chinese language metropolis of Foshan by means of Harvard’s WorldTeach program.
His arrival coincided with a lethal crackdown by Chinese language authorities on pro-democracy protesters in and round Tiananmen Sq. within the capital, Beijing, that severely strained China’s worldwide relations.
The bloody crackdown had an enduring impression on Walz, who noticed it as all of the extra motive to go.
“It was my perception at the moment that the diplomacy was going to occur on many ranges, definitely individuals to individuals, and the chance to be in a Chinese language highschool at that important time appeared to me to be actually essential,” he later stated in congressional testimony.
Walz saved up his reference to China after returning to america, the place he taught at faculties in Nebraska and Minnesota. By means of the corporate they arrange, Academic Journey Adventures, Walz and his spouse, Gwen, took teams of highschool college students to China each summer time for years, even spending their honeymoon there.
They had been married June 4, 1994, the five-year anniversary of the Tiananmen Sq. crackdown.
“He needed to have a date he’ll at all times keep in mind,” Gwen Walz, a fellow trainer, advised an area newspaper earlier than their wedding ceremony.
Walz praised the individuals he met in China whilst he criticized a authorities he noticed as holding them again.
“If they’d the right management, there aren’t any limits on what they may accomplish,” he advised the Nebraska newspaper The Star-Herald in 1990. “They’re such form, beneficiant, succesful individuals. They only gave and gave and gave to me. Going there was among the best issues I’ve ever accomplished.”
As a member of Congress, Walz has been outspoken on human rights points in China, co-sponsoring the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2017 and resolutions on Tiananmen Sq. and pro-democracy activists such because the late Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo.
Walz traveled to Tibet in 1990 and once more in 2015 as a member of a congressional delegation, and in 2016 had what he stated was a “life-changing lunch” with the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan non secular chief. Whereas China has facilitated modernization in Tibet, Walz advised Congress, it was essential to press the Chinese language authorities “to make sure the preservation of conventional Tibetan tradition.”
He additionally served on the Congressional-Govt Fee on China, which is targeted on human rights.
“Walz is probably essentially the most strong candidate in terms of human rights and China on a major-party ticket in latest reminiscence — if not ever,” Jeffrey Ngo, a senior coverage and analysis fellow on the Washington-based Hong Kong Democracy Council who met with Walz in 2016, stated in a put up on X.
Nonetheless, Walz’s China expertise drew fast suspicion from Republicans who accused him of being “pro-China.”
“Tim Walz owes the American individuals an evidence about his uncommon, 35-year relationship with Communist China,” Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said in a post on X.
Walz’s ties with China additionally drew consideration from social media customers within the nation, the place commenters expressed hope in addition to misgivings.
“It’s uncommon to have an American politician brazenly say that the 2 international locations can coexist with out opposition,” learn one touch upon Weibo.
Others stated it was not essentially factor for American politicians to be extra conversant in China.
“The extra American politicians perceive Chinese language, the extra they might suppress China, as they could see the Chinese language authorities’s actions as a menace to democracy,” one commenter stated.
Unusual famous that lots of Walz’s early China experiences and views “occurred below circumstances very totally different from those who outline U.S.-China relations in the present day.”
“Walz’s method to China-related points on the marketing campaign path will most likely be much less straight associated to his earlier experiences and far more reflective of no matter broader method to international coverage and U.S.-China relations that Vice President Kamala Harris adopts,” he stated in an electronic mail.