Emerging reports now challenge Governor Tim Walz’s prior assertions about his visits to China, casting doubt on his account of traveling there in 1989 as a teacher during the Tiananmen Square demonstrations, a period marked by the tragic suppression of pro-democracy protesters by the Chinese government. The news surfaces just before the upcoming vice presidential debate Tuesday night, where Walz’s contentious ties to China and his penchant for stretching the truth could be focal points for criticism.
Notably before his political career, Walz was known to frequently lead student trips to China, raising questions about his connections and activities during these formative years. As it turns out, even his allies at CNN have confirmed the report about Walz’s involvement, or lack thereof, during the Tiananmen protests. Now, his campaign is scrambling to downplay his other trips to China. When CNN inquired whether Walz was in China during the Tiananmen Square protests, the Harris campaign could not present any evidence to back up Walz’s assertion. The discrepancy was first highlighted by Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) and detailed by The Washington Free Beacon.
In a 2014 congressional hearing commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, Walz, then a U.S. congressman, recounted his experiences during that time. He claimed that he had been in Hong Kong in May of 1989, just before the Chinese government’s military crackdown on student protesters. Walz described witnessing the events unfold from Hong Kong and stated, “I still remember the train station in Hong Kong. There was a large number of, especially European, I think, very angry that we would still go after what had happened, but it was my belief at that time that the diplomacy was going to happen on many levels.”
“The opportunity to be in a Chinese high school at that critical time seemed to me to be really important. And it was a very interesting summer to say the least. Because if you recall, as we moved in that summer and further on and the news blackouts and things that went on, you certainly can’t black out news from people if they want to get it,” Walz said at the time.
When CNN sought clarification on the number of times Walz had traveled to China, a spokesperson for the Harris campaign stated that the number is “likely closer to 15.”
“The campaign was unable to produce documentation to back up Walz’s statement that he was there during the uprising,” MPR wrote when dissecting Walz’s experiences with China. A 1989 news report from the Chadron Record and another from the Alliance Times-Herald indicate that Walz did not leave the United States for China until August 1989, two months after the massacre took place. During May and June of that year, Walz was pictured and mentioned in local Nebraska newspapers while touring a National Guard storeroom in Alliance, Nebraska.
Before their wedding, Gwen Walz revealed to the Nebraska-based Star-Herald newspaper that they chose to get married on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre because “he wanted to have a date he’ll always remember.”
On Monday, a whistleblower revealed potential ties between Walz and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The GOP-led House Oversight Committee, chaired by Rep. James Comer (R-KY) issued a subpoena to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for documents related to the allegations. The whistleblower pointed to a Microsoft Teams chat among DHS employees discussing Walz and his alleged CCP connections. If the allegations are proven true, this could have significant political consequences for Walz and the Democrat Party just weeks before the election.