Behind Gov. Tim Walz ’s (D-MN) folksy demeanor is a deep and disturbing history with the Chinese government. But don’t expect this history to make headlines with much of the legacy media. In fact, Walz’s relationship with China quickly received near-universal acclaim as an unqualified asset .
An asset it might be, but for whom?
Walz’s history presents a case study in the Chinese Communist Party’s subnational influence campaigns. The Chinese phrase “ big help with a little bad mouth ” describes an influence target such as Walz who might talk tough on human rights but who protects the CCP’s reputation and makes critical concessions on economics and defense. Walz’s track record of advancing CCP propaganda while kowtowing on trade and national security deserves scrutiny.
Walz’s relationship with China began in 1989 when he taught high school English and American history in Guangdong Province . “No matter how long I live I'll never be treated that well again,” he rhapsodized upon his return home. “They gave me more gifts than I could bring home,” he proclaimed, oblivious to the CCP influence campaign to soften U.S. opinion immediately after the Tiananmen Square massacre. Upon returning to teach in the United States, Walz even extolled Chinese communism as a system where “everyone is the same and everyone shares.”
His affection for communist China led to his establishment of a travel company that took high school students to the country. Surprisingly, the Chinese government often paid “ a large part of the cost ” for Walz’s trips. He racked up extensive contacts during his 30 trips to China and even received government favors during his honeymoon there in 1994.
But China’s extraordinary generosity was not altruism. It was cultivation.
According to President Joe Biden’s director of national intelligence , the CCP targets young state, local, and business officials early in their careers to develop ties that may later prove useful. This influence strategy, summarized as “using the local to surround the center ,” allows Beijing to build loyal advocates across the U.S. to leverage against federal policymakers.
“The Chinese government understands that politicians in smaller roles today may rise to become more influential over time,” FBI Director Christopher Wray noted . “So they look to cultivate talent early, often state and local officials, to ensure that politicians at all levels of government will be ready to take a call and advocate on behalf of Beijing’s agenda.”
When Walz’s time came, he advocated on behalf of Beijing’s agenda. In 2019, when then-President Donald Trump cracked down on China’s economic coercion, the Minnesota governor called upon Trump to “end the trade war with China.” He did not reciprocally call upon China to end the decades of subsidies, intellectual property theft, and targeting of American defense companies to which Trump was responding.
Walz even opposed linking China’s human rights abuses to U.S. trade policy throughout most of his congressional tenure.
Walz was blinded to Beijing’s hybrid war upon America. “I don’t fall into the category that China necessarily needs to be an adversarial relationship,” he said in a 2016 interview with Agri-Pulse. "I totally disagree."
Walz’s denial occurred right as China ramped up a flood of fentanyl into the U.S. that amounts to chemical warfare. According to former Attorney General William Barr , “Without China’s production and export of fentanyl and fentanyl precursors … the mass slaughter would effectively stop.”
Moreover, questions remain unanswered about whether Walz complied with U.S. intelligence security standards during his 30 trips to China as a National Guardsman with an active security clearance. Walz was also curiously listed as a headliner at a Minnesota event with the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, a group that “has sought to directly and malignly influence state and local leaders to promote [China's] global agenda,” according to the State Department.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM RESTORING AMERICA
These concerns justify an investigation by both the House Oversight Committee and our national press.
And they highlight the need for a new approach at the state and local level. An ounce of state prevention is worth a pound of federal cure. That’s why State Armor , the organization I founded, works with state leaders to recognize and counter China’s subnational influence campaigns. Protecting our democracy from foreign adversaries begins at the state and local level before influence targets ascend to the White House.
Michael Lucci is the founder and CEO of State Armor, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization advocating state policy solutions to the global threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party.
Most Popular
Comments / 0