Democratic VP nominee Tim Walz’s China ties

Democratic VP nominee Tim Walz’s China ties

2024-08-16

U.S. Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz’s ties to China will likely inform his work if elected. But where does he stand on key issues? And how does Beijing see him? VOA’s Anita Powell reports.

Tim Walz spent a year teaching in China in 1989 and later organized student trips, and says he visited the country more than 30 times over the years. Republicans say Walz’s long ties to China mean Beijing will welcome him joining the Harris ticket and predict he will loosen hard-line U.S. economic and trade policies.

JD Vance
Republican vice president nominee
She selected Tim Walz, a guy who wants to ship more manufacturing jobs to China.

Vance appeared to be referring to Walz’s several-years-old support for trade with China as Minnesota’s governor. Walz made no mention of China at his debut campaign appearance, but here is the then-congressman in 2016 about how he viewed the country’s relations with the United States:

Rep. Tim Walz
Democrat
I don’t fall into the category that China necessarily needs to be an adversarial relationship. I totally disagree, and I think we need to stand firm on what they’re doing in the South China Sea.

And with VOA in 2014, he described what it was like to live there for a year following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.

Rep. Tim Walz
Democrat
And it was very powerful, and I’m certainly honored to have been there and to see the spirit of the Chinese people about trying to be very proud of their country.

In China, in the hours after his debut on the campaign trail, Harris’ vice-presidential pick quickly became a trending topic. This user said, “I think he might be friendly to China.” Other Chinese internet users thought he would take a harder line. While in Congress, Walz co-sponsored a number of resolutions critical of China’s human rights record. One nationalist military historian said the Democrats want to “destroy China.” Others commented on what Walz called his “life-changing lunch,” with the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled leader. Keen China watchers say that, so far, Beijing has not publicly reacted. But here’s what they see in Walz:

Kaiser Kuo
Sinica Podcast host
He’s been very forthright in his criticisms of China’s human rights record, and I think he’s done that from a position that is maybe more credible because of his conspicuous earnestness and his sincerity.

Other China analysts agreed that the Harris-Walz administration is expected to largely continue the toughened China policies of the Biden and Trump administrations.

Jim Fallows
Journalist and author
I think this should be seen around the world, in China, in Asia, as continuity in the complex, decades-long U.S., policy of recognizing the need to deal with China as a major power in the world, not that part of the world.

So, as this duo — both born in 1964 under the same lunar zodiac sign — barnstorms America, Beijing can only wonder: What would the future hold with a pair of wood dragons in the White House?

Anita Powell, VOA News, Washington.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53