America First Legal (AFL) has initiated an investigation into Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s extensive interactions with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The probe was prompted by Rep. James Comer, who on August 16, 2024, highlighted Gov. Walz's multiple visits to China and his operation of Educational Travel Adventures, Inc., a for-profit enterprise that organized trips to China for American children from 1991 to 2003.
Rep. Comer also noted that while serving in Congress, Gov. Walz was a fellow at Macau Polytechnic University, which describes itself as having a "long-held devotion to and love for the motherland."
Minnesota's higher education institutions reportedly collaborated with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) front organizations known as Confucius Institutes during Gov. Walz's tenure. These institutes are seen as part of the CCP’s "soft power" influence operations in the U.S. The University of Minnesota and St. Cloud State University (SCSU) hosted Confucius Institutes during this period. Despite pressure from the Trump Administration and Congress leading many universities to close their Confucius Institutes, SCSU's institute remained one of only ten still open by September 2023.
The National Association of Scholars reports that the CCP has shifted its focus to "Confucius Classroom" initiatives in American primary schools, including one in St. Cloud, MN. Additionally, national security experts have pointed out Gov. Walz’s promotion of a Minnesota-based medical research center with historical ties to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.
There is uncertainty regarding any measures taken by Gov. Walz to prevent CCP influence within Minnesota’s taxpayer-funded educational institutions or from utilizing state universities for advancing PRC interests in semiconductors, artificial intelligence, or military technologies.
Reed D. Rubinstein, America First Legal Senior Vice President stated: “The Trump Administration and its bipartisan partners in the Congress had no illusions about the Chinese Communist Party’s nature and intentions. Accordingly, they took strong action to expose and terminate the CCP’s influence operations in the United States, including its many Confucius Centers around the country, and to protect our research enterprise.”
Rubinstein further commented on Gov. Walz's actions: “By contrast, Gov. Walz’s long and troubling history of sympathetic engagement with the Chinese Communist Party and its instrumentalities suggests, at best, a blind disregard for our national security. The truth about Gov. Walz must be exposed.”