House Republicans have announced an investigation into Minnesota Governor Tim Walls over his “connections” with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Walls, a running mate of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, spent about a year teaching high school in China decades ago as part of Harvard University’s World Teach program. While in college, he took classes in East Asian studies.
After five years of teaching in China, Walls and his wife, teacher Gwen Walls, spent their honeymoon in China while simultaneously leading two high school tour groups. They later founded Educational Travel Adventures, which organized annual student trips to China until 2003.
While there appears to be no personal connection between Walls and the CCP, Rep. James Comer, a Republican who chairs the House Oversight Committee, said Friday he would launch an investigation into Walls’ “longstanding ties to Chinese Communist Party organizations and officials.” The team said in a press release.
Chris Klebonis/AFP; Robin Beck/AFP
“Americans should be deeply concerned that Governor Walls, the running mate of Kamala Harris, has a long and cozy relationship with China,” Comer said in the release.
He continued: “Mr. Walls has visited China several times, worked as a colleague in a Chinese organization devoted to the CCP, and spoke with the head of the Chinese organization. Include local leaders.”
Comer continued: “FBI briefers recently told the panel that the Bureau’s Foreign Influence Task Force is investigating CCP activity similar to China’s involvement with Governor Wallace. The American people deserve a full understanding of how deep Governor Wallace’s relationship with China is.”
Newsweek Walls’ office and the Harris-Walls campaign were contacted for comment Friday by email.
In a letter Friday to FBI Director Christopher Wray, Comer said Walsh’s decades-old trips to China and subsequent activities, such as speaking at the 2019 US-China People’s Friendship Association conference in Minnesota, “make him vulnerable.” [CCP’s] “Elite Capture Strategy.”
The move “raises questions about possible CCP influence in his decision-making,” the letter said.
Although Walls has traveled to China several times during his tenure as an author, he has expressed an outspoken criticism of the CPP-controlled Chinese government because of its record on human rights. As a congressman, Walls co-sponsored several related bills, including the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2017.
During a 2016 interview, Walls argued in favor of using diplomacy to find common ground with China, saying that he “doesn’t necessarily fall into the category of having an adversarial relationship with China.”
