Walz's long history with China draws attacks and praise
By Patricia Zengerle and David Brunnstrom
WASHINGTON, Aug 7 (Reuters) -Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is drawing attention from U.S. Republicans - and within China - for his long history with a country seen as Washington's greatest economic and military rival.
Attacks from supporters of the Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump, started after Harris announced on Tuesday that Walz - who taught in China after college and has traveled there many times since - was her vice presidential pick.
"Communist China is very happy with @GovTimWalz as Kamala’s VP pick," Richard Grenell, who served as ambassador to Germany and acting national intelligence director in the Trump administration, said on X.
The Harris-Walz campaign dismissed such criticism, noting Walz's record of criticizing Beijing's human rights record. "Republicans are twisting basic facts," James Singer, a campaign spokesperson, said. Singer said Walz hadlong stood up to the Chinese Communist Party and "fought for human rights and democracy, and always put American jobs and manufacturing first."
Walz went to China to teach English and U.S. history in 1989, the year of the bloody crackdown on pro-democracyprotesters in Tiananmen Square, when he was a new college graduate. He and his wife later started a company that organized trips to China for U.S. students. He has been to China more than 30 times.
He speaks some Chinese, got married on June 4 - saying it was a date he would not forget because it is the Tiananmen Square massacre anniversary - and honeymooned in China.
Unlike in the 1980s and 90s, when Walz began his travels, the desire for a hard line on China is one of the few truly bipartisan sentiments in U.S. politics at a time of deep divides between Democrats and Republicans.
While Walz has said the U.S.-China relationship doesn't need to be adversarial, he worked on bills critical of Beijing's human rights record during his 12 years in the House of Representatives and was a member of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, which focuses on human rights.
U.S. vice presidents do not typically have a lot of say over foreign policy, but they can influence a president's thinking about world affairs.
DIFFERENT ERA
China specialist Dean Cheng said that Walz traveling to China as a recent college graduate wasn't very significant, given that U.S. views of China had evolved since Walz first went to China in 1989.
"What is more noteworthy, to my mind, have been more recent comments by Governor Walz that he doesn't see China as necessarily an adversary, and that he hopes there will be cooperation with them," said Cheng, a non-resident senior fellow with the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies.
"It is harder and harder to see exactly where there is supposed to be cooperation. Which Chinese goals overlap with ours? Which Chinese behaviors are we prepared to countenance, since China is not in the habit of making concessions?"
Some experts said his experience would be an asset in dealings with Beijing.
"Walz has seen it all, understands the promise and peril of engaging with China, and can provide valuable advice on China issues to President Harris and her foreign policy team," said Jeff Moon, a trade consultant and a former assistant U.S. trade representative for China.
Harris made Walz her vice presidential pick on Tuesday in the biggest political decision of her nascent White House bid, which has energized her fellow Democrats after President Joe Biden's decision to end his run for reelection.
In China, commentators on the popular Weibo social media platform expressed doubts over whether Walz's history would influence U.S. relations.
"The will of an individual is irrelevant in the face of the will of the nation, whether he is pro-China or anti-China he has to be bound by the national interests of the United States," one commentator said.
Trump launched a trade war against China while in the White House, and as a candidate this year, has suggested he would impose tariffs of 60% or higher on Chinese goods.
His vice presidential choice, Senator JD Vance, has called China the "biggest threat" facing the United States.
Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and David Brunnstrom; additional reporting by Trevor Hunicutt in Washington, Ethan Wang and Bernard Orr in Beijing, Editing by Don Durfee and Alistair Bell
면책조항: XM Group 회사는 체결 전용 서비스와 온라인 거래 플랫폼에 대한 접근을 제공하여, 개인이 웹사이트에서 또는 웹사이트를 통해 이용 가능한 콘텐츠를 보거나 사용할 수 있도록 허용합니다. 이에 대해 변경하거나 확장할 의도는 없습니다. 이러한 접근 및 사용에는 다음 사항이 항상 적용됩니다: (i) 이용 약관, (ii) 위험 경고, (iii) 완전 면책조항. 따라서, 이러한 콘텐츠는 일반적인 정보에 불과합니다. 특히, 온라인 거래 플랫폼의 콘텐츠는 금융 시장에서의 거래에 대한 권유나 제안이 아닙니다. 금융 시장에서의 거래는 자본에 상당한 위험을 수반합니다.
온라인 거래 플랫폼에 공개된 모든 자료는 교육/정보 목적으로만 제공되며, 금융, 투자세 또는 거래 조언 및 권고, 거래 가격 기록, 금융 상품 또는 원치 않는 금융 프로모션의 거래 제안 또는 권유를 포함하지 않으며, 포함해서도 안됩니다.
이 웹사이트에 포함된 모든 의견, 뉴스, 리서치, 분석, 가격, 기타 정보 또는 제3자 사이트에 대한 링크와 같이 XM이 준비하는 콘텐츠 뿐만 아니라, 제3자 콘텐츠는 일반 시장 논평으로서 "현재" 기준으로 제공되며, 투자 조언으로 여겨지지 않습니다. 모든 콘텐츠가 투자 리서치로 해석되는 경우, 투자 리서치의 독립성을 촉진하기 위해 고안된 법적 요건에 따라 콘텐츠가 의도되지 않았으며, 준비되지 않았다는 점을 인지하고 동의해야 합니다. 따라서, 관련 법률 및 규정에 따른 마케팅 커뮤니케이션이라고 간주됩니다. 여기에서 접근할 수 있는 앞서 언급한 정보에 대한 비독립 투자 리서치 및 위험 경고 알림을 읽고, 이해하시기 바랍니다.
