On Tuesday morning, Democratic presidential candidate, He Jinli, nominated Tim Walz, the Governor of Minnesota, as her running mate. The 60-year-old former high school teacher, veteran, and former congressman, taught at a high school in China over thirty years ago and has since been focused on human rights issues in China.
After graduating from Chadron State College in Nebraska with a Bachelor’s degree in social science education in 1989, Walz reportedly studied East Asian studies at the University of Houston in 1985.
Upon graduating, as part of Harvard University’s WorldTeach program, Walz taught at a high school in China for about a year. He was among the first group of American educators approved to teach in China.
He taught American history, culture, and English to Chinese high school students.
According to ChinaTalk, he taught at the prestigious Foshan No. 1 High School in Foshan, Guangdong Province. Foshan No. 1 High School, with a century-old history, has a good track record of sending students to top universities. Its most notable feature is the establishment of the Tibet Department in 1995. In 2002, the school began admitting boarding students from Tibet. Walz had visited Tibet before returning to the United States.
Why did Walz go to China? According to ChinaTalk citing an interview with The Hill in 2007, “China was coming, that’s why I went.”
At the time, he was one of the few Westerners in this newly opened society of China. His Chinese students gave him the nickname “Zhongguo Tian.”
His students explained, “Because your kindness is as vast as the fields of China.” They also called him “Big Nose” and “Foreign Devil,” but he believed that neither of these nicknames was malicious. After returning to the United States, Walz and his wife founded a company called Educational Travel Adventures, Inc., coordinating summer trips to China for American high school students.
Walz and his wife chose to get married on the fifth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square “June Fourth” incident and then honeymooned in China. When asked why they made this choice, his wife, Gwen Walz, said, “He wanted to have a date that would never be forgotten.”
“Going there was one of the best things I have ever done,” he told the newspaper of the Nebraska National Guard upon his return from China.
Walz was also a long-time member of the Army National Guard, retiring as a lieutenant colonel after 24 years of service.
From 2007 to 2019, Walz served six terms as a congressman in the United States House of Representatives and worked at the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC). The organization focuses on human rights issues in China. He often testified in Congress about his experiences in China and highlighted human rights issues in China.
At a hearing in 2016 on Tibet, Walz said, “Economic growth, increasing incomes for residents, and the construction of railway projects have promoted rapid modernization in the Tibet Autonomous Region. However, we must continue to engage in constructive dialogue with China to ensure the protection of Tibet’s traditional culture and fragile ecology.”
“The United States is founded on the universal idea of freedom, and I believe we must continue to urge the Chinese government (CCP) to provide less regulated religious freedom to Tibetans.”
Walz said, “I will continue to support fruitful dialogues with the Chinese government (CCP) on the future of Tibet. Improving the quality of life in Tibet, securing clean water sources, and gaining access to healthcare services must also include efforts to protect Tibetan ways of life.”
At a hearing on detained Chinese civil rights activist Chen Guangcheng, Walz said, he acknowledged that some within the CCP advocate for strengthening the rule of law, “but we cannot believe that China is taking the rule of law seriously when Chen Guangcheng and his family are subjected to arbitrary detention and abuse.”
“We cannot believe that China is serious about human rights when openly violating its own laws and international human rights commitments.”
In the House of Representatives, Walz co-sponsored a series of resolutions expressing views on China’s human rights record, including: the 2017 Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act; a resolution on the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, calling for an investigation into the treatment of detained protesters; a resolution in support of Chinese human rights activists Huang Qi and Tan Zuoren, who were criminally prosecuted for “defaming” the Beijing government’s response to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.
Walz also pushed for a resolution expressing concern about the CCP’s approval of organ harvesting from imprisoned individuals.
In May of this year, on the occasion of World Falun Dafa Day, celebrated on May 13, Walz, in his capacity as governor, presented certificates to Falun Dafa founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi, and practitioners, “in recognition of their continued commitment to serving the community of Minnesota and promoting cultural exchange opportunities worldwide.”
“Because they are truly appreciated and respected by the people of Minnesota, this certificate is hereby issued in honor of World Falun Dafa Day,” wrote Walz on the certificate.