This clown is dirty.
'Biden-Harris Pentagon Stonewalling Congress, Media on Tim Wazl's
Frequent China Travel'

<https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/09/01/biden-harris-pentagon-stonewalling-congress-media-tim-walzs-frequent-china-travel/>

'The Biden-Harris Pentagon is refusing to answer questions from Congress
and the media on Democrat vice-presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz’s
(D-MN) frequent travel to China — which poses risks for members of the
military and raises questions of whether or not Walz reported these
trips to the Army National Guard while he was serving.

Members of the United States military are typically required to report
to or request permission from their command before traveling overseas —
especially if they have a security clearance and they are traveling to a
country hostile to U.S. interests, such as China.

This is because members of the U.S. military are enticing targets of
foreign espionage and exploitation. When traveling to hostile countries,
they will often receive a defensive briefing before they go, on what to
watch out for. Upon returning, they are sometimes asked to provide a
briefing of the trip on who they met with and if anything out of the
ordinary happened.

Walz has bragged about visiting China about 30 times. Many of those
trips were taken when he was an Army National Guard member.

It is not clear if or how often Walz reported his travels to China to
his command, requested permission to go, or if he had a security
clearance — and the Pentagon is not providing answers.

House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee Chairman Jim Banks
(R-IN) sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the acting
chief of the National Guard Army Lt. Gen. Jonathan Stubbs on August 13,
requesting that information.

Two days later, a Pentagon spokesperson, on August 15, told the South
China Morning Post that Austin would respond to Banks “in due course.”
Now, more than two weeks later, the Pentagon has still not responded,
according to a Banks aide.

Banks said in an exclusive statement to Breitbart News on Thursday:

The Biden-Harris DOD is once again putting politics ahead of our
national security. Tim Walz is bought and paid for by the Chinese
Communist Party and doesn’t belong anywhere near the White House.

Breitbart News also asked the Minnesota National Guard deputy of public
affairs on August 22 if Walz had ever requested permission to visit
China or had a security clearance during his time in the National Guard,
with a deadline of August 28. As of August 30, there has been no
response.

Breitbart News also reached out to Walz’s spokesman, Teddy Tschann, with
questions but did not receive a response by deadline.

A retired senior non-commissioned officer with the Army National Guard
told Breitbart News that “99 percent” of staff sergeants, or E-6s, in
the Army National Guard will have at least an interim security
clearance, and thus be required to report such trips. Walz traveled
annually to China between 1993 and 2003, and was at least a master
sergeant, or E-8, by 2004. That means he would have spent at least some
years in China as an E-6 or above.

The retired NCO said that when Walz was conditionally promoted to
sergeant major, or E-9, in 2004, he would have needed to update his
SF-86 — which is a government form used for background checks and to
obtain security clearances — to attend the Sergeant Majors Academy.
Reports suggest that Walz began the Sergeant Majors Academy but did not
complete it, instead choosing to cut his military contract short and
retire in 2005.

“Even back then, every trip on your passport needs to be listed on the
SF-86,” said the retired NCO, who suggested that not being able to get a
security clearance could have played a role in Walz’s sudden retirement
from the military.

Walz had reportedly committed to serve until 2007, but retired in May
2005, just two months after he said his unit was possibly deploying to
Iraq and promising to go. He claimed he retired so he could focus on his
run for Congress, despite members of the National Guard being able to
run for office while serving.

Security experts agree Walz’s frequent trips to China would have
triggered concerns in the military.

Walz joined the National Guard in 1981, when he was 17. Walz first went
to China in December 1989 when he was 25, as part of a program teaching
English. He spent a year there, and traveled the country afterwards.
With the help of a “friend” in the Chinese government, Walz returned in
1993, bringing high school students with him. He told a local newspaper
that he received permission and funding from the Chinese government.

After getting married in 1994, he brought his wife to China for their
honeymoon, along with 60 students for two trips to China. Some students
received “scholarships” from Walz, his wife, and the Chinese government.
He and his wife would start a for-profit small business bringing
American students for trips to China, every year until 2003.

Sean Bigley, security clearance expert and current professor at Chapman
University, said the fact that he received funding from China for these
trips is highly problematic and would be disqualifying for someone
seeking a security clearance.

“That’s almost a non-starter for a security clearance. That’s almost a
guaranteed denial, because they say, ‘Well what are you expected to do
in return for that money?'” Bigley said in an interview with Breitbart
News.

“The Chinese government doesn’t just give money to give money. There’s
an expectation that comes with that,” he said. “Those deals don’t happen
without some sort of expectation of future cooperation on some level, or
at least a willingness to engage.”

Bigley, a former Bush administration official, said even back in the
early 2000s, travel to China — when U.S.-China relations were less
hostile — would still be problematic.

“I can almost guarantee that even back then, that would have raised
eyebrows, like, ‘Wait, what — you’re getting paid by the Chinese
government?” he said.

“Even back then, there’s tremendous risk involved when we’re talking
about a hostile foreign country,” he said. “You have to assume you’re
being tracked and monitored. The issue and the risk is typically the
potential to be placed in scenarios that open you up to blackmail.”

Bigley said China could have also gathered basic intelligence on Walz’s
networks. “You know, who does this person know? What are their
connections to different people? It allows foreign intelligence services
to build out a picture of who this person is that could potentially be
exploited in unforeseen ways down the road,” he said.

Bigley said it is a key question whether Walz had a security clearance
at the time of his travels, and noted that the answer would not be
classified.

John Schindler, a former senior intelligence analyst and
counterintelligence officer with the National Security Agency, said
Walz’s travel to China and government funding would certainly not have
happened without the approval of the Chinese Ministry of State Security,
the regime’s powerful secret police.

“Here’s the thing: You don’t get to go back to China 30 times on
educational exchanges unless you have the approval of the Communist
Party and the secret police. That’s just how communist countries work,”
he told Breitbart News in an interview.

Schindler wrote in a recent Washington Examiner piece:

Put simply, the Chinese communists aren’t running a holiday charity for
American tourists. For those communists, nothing comes without a quid
pro quo.

…
Three decades ago, a young American with an affection for China, who was
also a part-time member of the U.S. military, would have been a tempting
recruiting target for Chinese intelligence. Given that Beijing’s spies
represent the greatest espionage threat to the United States today, this
isn’t any merely academic query.

Moreover, we’re coming off four years of a Democratic president
possessing odd, unexplained ties to Beijing, including millions of
dollars given to his son by Chinese intelligence. Do we really want
someone who may be even more compromised by China in the White House?

Schindler agreed with Bigley that “there is no way that an applicant
with 30-plus visits to Communist China would get a security clearance.
“That’s not going to happen… . And that would be a show stopper. But
apparently not to be the vice president,” he said.

A look at local news articles at the time reveal other alarming details
in Walz’s history with China.

Walz was in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square crackdown on June 4,
1989, when Chinese officials brutally massacred students protesting for
democracy. Walz said he opted to go into China that December, despite
other teachers having reservations because believed it was more
important than ever to go and show his support for the Chinese people.

However, after returning, he gushed about his time there. In a September
18, 1990, Scottsbluff Star-Herald article, he said, “No matter how long
I live, I’ll never be treated that well again.” He added, “They gave me
more gifts than I could bring home. It was an excellent experience.” He
also said, “I was treated exceptionally well. There was no
anti-Americanism whatsoever,” and said there was “almost no crime.”

A January 9, 1994, Star-Herald article at the time said Walz “has always
been fascinated by Communist China” and that he “remembers from his
childhood pictures of Mao Tse-tung, hung in public places and carried in
parades.”

Walz told the paper he was “treated royally in the Chinese school
system” — given a decorated apartment, a color television, and a
shortwave radio. His apartment was the only air-conditioned one on
campus. He also said he was thrown parties on his birthday and Christmas
and earned $80 per month — double the salary of other teachers.

The article also said “a Chinese banner and clippings from news accounts
of his trips cover the walls in his office” at Alliance High School
where he was a teacher. The article noted at the time, he was already
serving in the National Guard, and had guarded an armory.

'
'In another November 12, 1991, Scottsbluff Star-Herald article, Walz
appeared to extol the communist system, as reported by the Washington
Free Beacon.

“It means that everyone is the same and everyone shares,” Walz told his
high school students during a class, according to the article. “The
doctor and the construction worker make the same. The Chinese government
and the place they work for provide housing and 14 kg or about 30 pounds
of rice per month. They get food and housing.”

Walz would return to China in 1993, bringing students with him, with the
help of the Chinese government, according to a July 25, 1993,
Star-Herald article. The article said, “Walz got the idea while working
as a teacher in China three years ago. A friend helped contact the
authorities, and funding came through from the government this April.”
The article added:

Each student and the 10 sponsors have had to raise $1,580, Walz said.
But lodging, food and other costs in China are being picked up by the
government. ‘We don’t think a high school group has gone that (Chinese
authorities have) paid a large part of the cost,’ he said.

The students’ special status will let them go places other people can’t,
Walz explained. They’ll be traveling throughout southern China for about
two weeks, including visits to Hong Kong and a hot springs resort that
has one of the country’s two golf courses.

Michael Sobolik, senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council,
recently told the Daily Mail it was “notable” the Chinese government
funded Walz’s student exchange trips to China. “By Walz’s own admission,
it was unusual that the government ‘paid a large part of the cost,'” he
told the outlet.

Another Scottsbluff Star-Herald article said the “friend” who helped
Walz was in China’s foreign affairs department.

Sometime between returning from China in 1990 and 1994, Walz would work
“full-time for the Nebraska National Guard,” according to the Minnesota
Star Tribune.

Walz and his wife Gwen would marry on June 4, 1994 — on the fifth
anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, according to a
Scottsbluff Star-Herald report. “He wanted to have a date he’ll always
remember,” his then-soon-to-be wife told the paper.

They would then spend their honeymoon in China — bringing along 60
students for two two-week long trips to China. Seven students received
$800 scholarships from Walz, his wife, and the Chinese government, the
Daily Mail reported. Around this time, Walz and his wife started their
business bringing American high school students to China.

A former student who says he joined Walz on a 1995 trip to China told
Alpha News that he was struck by Walz’s adoration for China and its
communist ideology.

“There was no doubt he was a true believer,” said the student, who did
not want to use his last name. “I’ve been trying to tell people this for
30 years. Nobody wanted to listen.

“At night, we’d go out, we’d walk the street fairs. We’d be buying
souvenirs and Tim was always buying the little red book. He said he gave
them as gifts … I saw him buy at least a dozen on the trip,” said the
student. “It would be like in Germany and buying copies of Mein Kampf.”

Walz would deploy to Italy in 2003 and retire from the National Guard in
2005. He ran for Congress in 2005, was elected in 2006, and began
serving in 2007. He was a visiting fellow at the Macau Polytechnic
University until as late as 2007, according to the Washington Free
Beacon. Macau is a former Portuguese colony that was taken over by China
in 1999.

In 2007, he told the Hill that he first taught in China as a 25-year-old
because, “China was coming, and that’s the reason that I went.” He said
his students nicknamed him “Fields of China,” because his kindness was a
big as the fields of China. He said they also called him “big-nosed one”
and “foreign devil.”

As a member of Congress, Walz has been critical of China’s human rights
record. He has met with human rights activists and co-sponsored
resolutions on the issue. In 2015, he went with a delegation to Tibet,
led by then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and met with the
Dalai Lama.

However, experts note that is hardly unique in terms of U.S. officials,
and that Walz has also called for cooperation with China. They note that
there is even a term for officials who talk tough on human rights, but
being more muted on other issues.

As Michael Lucci, founder and CEO of State Armor, a nonprofit focused on
the threat posed by the CCP, wrote recently in the Washington Examiner:

Walz’s history presents a case study in the Chinese Communist Party’s
subnational influence campaigns. The Chinese phrase ‘big help with a
little bad mouth‘ describes an influence target such as Walz who might
talk tough on human rights but who protects the CCP’s reputation and
makes critical concessions on economics and defense. Walz’s track record
of advancing CCP propaganda while kowtowing on trade and national
security deserves scrutiny.

Lucci also noted that Walz opposed linking China’s human rights abuses
to U.S. trade policy throughout most of his congressional tenure. Walz
said in a 2016 video interview with Agri-Pulse Communications, an
agriculture-focused publication, “I don’t fall into the category that
China necessarily needs to be an adversarial relationship.”

While he said he disagreed with what China was doing in the South China
Sea, but added, “There’s many areas of cooperation that we [can] work
on.” He also mentioned a trip he took to China earlier that year, which
included meeting with China’s agricultural minister and said his work on
the Congressional-Executive Commission on China has “opened channels of
collaboration.”

“When we’re on the same sheet of music, two of the world’s great
superpowers, there’s many collaborative things that we can do,” he
added.

In another video, Walz is heard saying, “I’m pretty friendly with
China.”

As Minnesota governor, Walz has opposed Trump’s “confrontational” trade
policy on China, according to Japanese news outlet Nikkei. Lucci also
noted that Walz called on Trump to “end the trade war with China” but
did not call on China to “end the decades of subsidies, intellectual
property theft, and targeting of American defense companies to which
Trump was responding.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, China’s acting Chicago Consul
General Liu Jun attended Walz’s inauguration as Minnesota governor. Liu
said in a 2019 press release that he hoped Walz could promote friendly
and cooperative relations between Minnesota and China.

In 2019, Walz headlined a CCP influence group’s 2019 national
convention, according to journalist Natalie Winters:

According to the National Review, Walz in a February 2021 letter to a
Chinese-language school in Edina, Minnesota, wrote that his state has a
“longstanding relationship with the people of China.”

“The state has promoted Minnesota’s connections with China and has
hosted numerous senior Chinese officials for decades,” he wrote, adding
that “these ties are rapidly expanding through the growth of education,
trade, and investment opportunities between our two peoples.”

In March 2024, Walz hosted China’s Counsel General in Chicago Zhao Jian
at the Minnesota state capitol.

Walz’s selection as Vice President Kamala Harris’s running mate has been
portrayed positively in the Chinese state-run media, according to one
report.

Australian news website the Conversation reported that
Chinese-government run media highlighted Walz’s “rich life experience,”
noting his teaching, frequent visits and honeymoon in China.

The article also said China Daily “mentioned his support for
non-adversarial relations with China, praising his capacity to make
‘more rational and informed decisions on US-China relations.'”

The article noted that Republican vice-presidential nominee Sen. JD
Vance (R-OH) had called China “the biggest threat to the U.S.”

One Chinese outlet wrote, “…it is probably certain that Walz and his
wife’s experience in China should be generally positive.”

And a publication that U.S. lawmakers consider part of China’s overseas
propaganda arm known as the “United Front” argued:

Walz’s unique China experience is an asset that […] will directly affect
Harris’ China policy. From the Chinese perspective, Walz is a person
China is willing to proactively engage with.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) recently sent a
letter to the FBI requesting information on Chinese entities and
officials that Walz has engaged and partnered with, as well as any
warnings or advice the FBI may have given him about U.S. political
figures being targeted or recruited for CCP influence operations.

Comer wrote to FBI Director Christopher Wray:

It has come to the Committee’s attention that Governor Walz has
longstanding connections to CCP-connected entities and officials that
make him susceptible to the Party’s strategy of elite capture, which
seeks to co-opt influential figures in elite political, cultural, and
academic circles to influence the United States to the benefit of the
communist regime and the detriment of Americans. Reporting about
Governor Walz’s extensive engagement with CCP officials and entities
while serving in public office raises questions about possible CCP
influence in his decision-making as governor — and, should he be
elected, as vice president.

Comer gave the FBI a deadline of August 30, 2024, to provide answers.

Senators are also concerned as well.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) posted on August 6: “Tim Walz owes the American
people an explanation about his unusual, 35-year relationship with
Communist China.”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) posted on August 8: “Walz is an example of how
Beijing patiently grooms future American leaders Decades later they get
into positions of power, are portrayed as ‘experts’ by the media & push
for policies that allow China to steal our jobs & factories & flood
America with drugs.”

Schindler also noted in his recent op-ed the hypocrisy of Democrats
“obsessing about former President Donald Trump’s alleged ties to Moscow,
most of which turned out to be imaginary.”

“Would anybody have thought Trump was fit for the Oval Office if he’d
visited Russia 30 times, including on the Kremlin’s dime, and gushed
about Moscow’s glories?” he asked.

Bigley, a former Trump appointee to the National Security Education
Board, also noted that the left has tried to argue that Trump — who was
convicted for falsifying business documents by a New York court — should
not have a security clearance, but Walz would likely not be eligible for
one, given his history with China.