Tim Walz's long, complicated history with China

Politicians have long enjoyed — or at least endured — creative nicknames with little to no obvious bearing on their actual record of public service. Then-Vice President Lyndon Johnson was derided as "Rufus Cornpone" and "Huckleberry Capone" by the Kennedy clan, while Donald Trump allegedly called Education Secretary Betsy DeVos "Ditsy DeVos." Perhaps most (in)famously, former President George W. Bush named his arch-conservative adviser Karl Rove "Turd Blossom" after a Texas flower known to grow in patches of manure. 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) also had a notable nickname: "Fields of China." The appellation, given to him in 1989 by students at Foshan No.1 High School in Guangdong, China, during the year he spent teaching there after college, was intended to convey that his kindness was "as big as the fields of China," Walz explained to The Hill in 2007. Walz has returned to China around 30 times, even honeymooning there, and with "Educational Travel Adventures," a company he established to facilitate study abroad trips for American high schoolers. After he was elected to the House of Representatives in 2006, Walz served on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, the government agency tasked with monitoring Chinese human rights and the rule of law. 

Now, as Walz enters the national spotlight as Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris' vice presidential running mate, that longstanding — and often complex — relationship has come under renewed scrutiny. Will Walz's history with Beijing affect his candidacy, and role in a potential Harris administration? 

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'Neither a "dragon slayer" nor a "panda hugger"'

Republicans have quickly seized upon Walz's time spent in China as a liability for Democrats. The Make America Great Again PAC associated with Donald Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance's candidacy posted clips of the Minnesota governor disagreeing with the suggestion that "China necessarily needs to be an adversarial relationship."

Walz's views on China are "way outside of the mainstream consensus," said former Trump administration State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus on X. As vice president, Walz's policy toward China would be the "weakest in generations." China, for one, is "very happy" with Walz on the Democratic ticket, said Richard Grenell, former ambassador to Germany and acting National Intelligence Director under Trump.

During his time in Congress, however, Walz "joined numerous initiatives criticizing Beijing's human-rights abuses," and met with "several of the Chinese Communist Party's top detractors" including the Dalai Lama, the National Review said, even if "these experiences have not made him a hawk." Rather, from his time in Washington and Minnesota's governor's mansion, Walz blends "robust human-rights advocacy with a willingness to emphasize the importance of 'cooperation' with Beijing." For as much as Walz has been "skeptical of the Chinese leadership, he still worked to engage with the Chinese people," The Washington Post said. His is a "nuanced" position in which he has described himself as "neither a 'dragon slayer' nor a 'panda hugger.'"

'Not starting from square one'

While detractors have attempted to capitalize on Walz's China relationship, his deep relations with the country could be an asset in the White House, as well. Several Hong Kong-based activists have "touted Walz" given his "support for the territory’s democratic movement," Semafor said. 

Walz's China experience will ultimately "put a lot of people who care a lot about American foreign policy in this part of the world at ease," National Taiwan University political scientist Lev Nachman said to Voice of America. He is "informed, has spent time in the region, and is not starting from square one when it comes to learning about American foreign policy in East Asia." While his potential influence on relations between the two countries may be structurally limited, said Zhu Junwei, director of the Centre for American Studies, to the South China Morning Post, "it would be better if such a person, with rich experience in exchanges with China, took office rather than having someone who knows nothing about China."

Ultimately, no matter Walz's "past experiences" overseas, America's attitude toward China "still depends on the American perception of their own economic status" Lu Xiang, a specialist in U.S.-China relations at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said to the Morning Post.