Vice President Kamala Harris‘ selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate for the 2024 presidential election on Monday has drawn a mixed response from Chinese netizens.
Walz’s personal connection with China, going back to his time teaching in the country, has become a source of speculation both in the U.S. and in China. Many are closely watching the election cycle because of its impact on ties with Washington, which are strained on myriad fronts, from Taiwan to trade to human rights.
Some Chinese netizens believe Walz might improve the world’s most consequential relationship.
“It’s rare to have an American politician openly say that the two countries can coexist without opposition,” the Business Times quoted one user of China’s X-like microblogging platform Weibo as saying.
Others weighed in on what Harris’ vice presidential pick indicates about Democratic strategy.
“It feels like the Democratic Party deliberately elects people who are not famous,” one user wrote on video-sharing platform Bilibili. “Their strategy is not to compete with Trump to see who is stronger but to compete with him over who is less annoying.”
Another Bilibili commentator speculated “Sister Haha,” a moniker given to Harris on Chinese social media for her laughter during public appearances, had chosen Walz because he comes off as “mild and steady.”
However, some have expressed concerns about Walz.
One Bilibili user wrote: “Walz is not as pro-China as people imagine” and that his attitude seems “relatively typical for Americans who know China.”
“It’s worth being vigilant,” they added.
The Minnesota governor’s office and Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a written request for comment.
Walz’s connections to China date back decades. He taught at a Chinese high school in Foshan City, in the southeastern province of Guangdong, from 1989 to 1990.
He arrived shortly after the Tiananmen Square Massacre, during which the Chinese government cracked down on demonstrators, with estimates of the number of deaths ranging from hundreds to thousands.
Walz has criticized China over its human rights record and during his time as U.S. House Representative for Minnesota’s 1st District co-sponsored multiple related bills, including the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2017.
He has also said the U.S. should stand firm on Chinese actions such as its growing assertiveness in the South China Sea.
Yet he has also expressed support for finding common ground with the East Asian power when possible.
“I don’t fall into the category that China necessarily needs to be an adversarial relationship,” he said in a 2016 interview as a congressman.
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