BEIJING: US presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s choice of Tim Walz as her running mate has raised eyebrows and plenty of questions in China, which he first visited in 1989, the year the military crushed protests.

The 60-year-old Minnesota governor and former schoolteacher has visited China dozens of times, including on summer trips with student groups for sightseeing and cultural exchange.

He first travelled there in 1989, moving to Foshan, a city in China’s southern Guangdong province, for a year of teaching English at a local high school, according to media reports at the time.

Walz married his wife Gwen on June 4 1994, an article in a US newspaper said. “He wanted to have a date he’ll always remember,” his wife was quoted as saying.

On Wednesday, social media users in China questioned the timing of Walz’s 1989 arrival in the country and suggested ulterior motives. “He came to China at a time of turmoil, clearly with a special mission,” one user commented on the platform Weibo.

“Is he from the CIA?” another wrote. “Look at the year and you can’t help but be sceptical,” chimed in a third.

‘Definite influence’

Walz has pushed back against the assertion that the United States and China are necessary adversaries, a view widespread in Washington in recent years as trade and geopolitical disagreements with Beijing mount.

“I lived in China and as I said I’ve been there about 30 times,” he told farming news website Agri-Pulse in a 2016 interview. “But if someone tells you they’re an expert on China they’re probably not telling you the truth because it’s a complex country,” he said.

But despite his positive comments on Chinese people and culture, Walz has also been critical of its government, telling US media in 1990 that with “proper leadership” the country could achieve great success.

In 2016, while representing Minnesota in the US House of Representatives, he met the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader denounced by Beijing as a dangerous separatist.

China’s foreign ministry said that it would not comment on Harris’s choice of Walz as a running mate, calling the election an internal affair of the US. “We hope the US side can work with the Chinese side to move in the same direction,” the statement said.

Social media users wondered what Walz’s personal connection to their country might mean if elected. “If Harris is elected president, Vice President Walz will have a definite influence on her China policy,” one user wrote.

In Britain, The Guardian said Harris’s pick for vice president was a “smart choice”, highlighting that Walz could win over moderate Republicans.

“Ms Harris’s pick contributes to a renewed sense of purpose, and is another welcome step in a campaign that still has a long way to run,” it wrote.

The Kyiv Post said Walz’s appointment was good news for Ukraine, as “since the start of the full-scale invasion, Walz has been a vocal advocate for Ukraine in its fight against Russia”.

The Harris-Walz team attracted an excited crowd in their first rally together, France’s Le Monde said. “It was a spectacle of joy, strength, and jubilation the likes of which we hadn’t seen in a long time,” it stated.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2024