by Philip Lenczycki
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, appointed a member of a political faction that has pledged loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to a state board that advises the government on Asian-American affairs, a Daily Caller News Foundation investigation found.
Walz first appointed Chang Wang, a Minnesota-based attorney, to the Council On Asian Pacific Minnesotans in May 2020. Wang now serves as the âinterim chairâ of the Council On Asian Pacific Minnesotans, which advises the governor, legislature and other state agencies by promoting the âeconomic, social, legal and political equality of Asian Pacific Minnesotans,â according to its website. Wangâs term is up in January 2025.
The council spent more than half a million dollars of taxpayer funding in 2023, according to its annual report.
But for over a decade, Wang has also been affiliated with the China Association For Promoting Democracy (CAPD), the DCNF found through a review of Chinese government announcements, archived University of Minnesota records and Chinese-language publications written by Wang himself.
CAPD is one of the handful of alternative Chinese political parties allowed to operate in the communist nation. Like Chinaâs other minor parties, CAPD is âloyalâ to the CCP and continues âto function within the structure of the Chinese Peopleâs Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC),â which is the countryâs top political advisory body, according to the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress.
CAPD is allowed to operate in China based upon their organizationâs stated promise to ârally closely aroundâ the CCPâs Central Committee and play a role as advisors and assistants to the CCP, according to Xinhua, Chinaâs official news agency.
Since joining the Minnesota state council, records show that Wang has been recognized by the Chinese government on multiple occasions, including granting him a title and even accepting a policy research proposal he submitted.
âMy elderly parents are my only ties to China,â Wang told the DCNF by email, when asked about his relationship with CAPD. Wangâs profile on the University of Minnesotaâs website does not currently mention his CAPD affiliation, though an archived version does.
Wang previously told the outlet China Insight his parents were âsenior scientistsâ at âAcademia Sinica,â which is the historic name for the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). CAS reports directly to Chinaâs State Council, with âmuch of its work contributing to products for military use,â according to the U.S. Department of Defense.
CAS is a âprivileged institutionâ thatâs âtightly monitoredâ by the CCP, said Steve Yates, China Policy Initiative chair at the America First Policy Institute and former Chinese language analyst for the National Security Agency.
âFor someone to have two parents in that entity, it basically is the equivalent of being not just a made man, but a made family,â Yates told the DCNF.
Wang has also previously said he works as a senior associate professor of law at the Beijing-based China University of Political Science and Law, whose website still lists him as faculty.
Neither Walzâs office nor the Harris-Walz campaign responded to multiple requests for comment.
Walzâs close relationship with China and its political mechanisms have come under intense scrutiny from Republican lawmakers, like Kentucky Rep. James Comer, who recently sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray requesting information pertaining to âany Chinese entity or individual with whom Mr. Walz may have engaged or partnered.â
Walz has traveled to China approximately 30 times and even worked for Macau Polytechnic University while serving in Congress, Comerâs letter says. Media reports have also dug up past comments from Walz where he appears to lavish praise on Chinese communism â for instance, Walz reportedly told high school students in 1991 that communism âmeans that everyone is the same and everyone shares.â
More recently, the DCNF reported that Walz has attended numerous events organized by members of a Minnesota nonprofit affiliated with a CCP influence and intelligence agency. Among other examples, members of the nonprofit and related organizations held a fundraiser for Walzâs gubernatorial reelection in 2022, the DCNF found.
"@GovTimWalz could explain away 1 or 2 facts, but he can't explain away the pattern & the @DailyCaller just dropped an investigation a day or so ago, which showed Walz maintaining regular contact w/ Communist Party front organizations in MN.
So, we go back to the 1990s we have⌠pic.twitter.com/SSeuTVA9in
— Philip Lenczycki čĄĺ˛ł (@LenczyckiPhilip) August 29, 2024
âYou would think that there would be some screening,â Yates said of Walzâs appointment of Wang.
âOf what possible value-add is someone with ties to that entity in China to the citizens of the United States or to Minnesota, and why would a governor with a generation of experience coming and going to the Peopleâs Republic of China want someone from that world having privileged access to advise leaders in Minnesota on any issue?â Yates told the DCNF.
âNot Really About Democracyâ
While the word âdemocracyâ appears in its name, CAPD describes itself as âa political party that accepts the leadership of the CCP and cooperates with the CCP as a participant in socialism with Chinese characteristics.â CAPD also says its members are mainly intellectuals working in academia, science, media and related fields.
âWhen you are engaging entities from communist countries that have the word âdemocracyâ in them, you have a near 100% chance that theyâre not really about democracy,â Yates told the DCNF. âYouâre talking about organizations that are meant to interact with people and groups in the Free World on behalf of the ultimate authority in the PRC: the CCP.â
John Dotson, deputy director of the Global Taiwan Institute, told the DCNF that CAPD is âone of what the CCP calls the âeight democratic partiesâ that operate alongside the ruling CCP, in the effort to provide a veneer of pluralism to the [Chinese] system.â
âAnyone who is a member of one of the âeight democratic partiesâ should be understood as a CCP member, subject to Party directives, etcetera,â said Dotson, a former U.S. Navy intelligence officer.
The DCNF determined Wangâs CAPD membership through a review of multiple archived English and Chinese-language profiles.
For instance, an archived version of Wangâs 2022 bio on the University of Minnesotaâs China Center website identified him as âone of the twenty-five members serving on the Central Civil and Judiciary Committee of China Association For Promoting Democracy, the third largest political party in mainland China.â
At some point between January and July 2023, Wangâs membership in the Chinese political party was removed from his China Center bio.
The China Center did not respond to the DCNFâs requests for comment.
CAPDâs Chinese-language website still names Wang as a member of its Central Civil and Judiciary Committee, and also identifies Wang as a professor of the Institute of Comparative Law at China University of Political Science and Law.
Wang is currently listed as faculty on the website of China University of Political Science and Law and his position at the school is noted in several online bios, including his Barnes & Noble author bio, as well as in a 2019 interview on his law firmâs website.
Wang also taught at SĂŁo Paulo Law School in Brazil, where his online bio says â[s]ince 2007, he has been a member of Central Civil and Judiciary Committee of China Association for Promoting Democracy (CAPD), the fourth largest political party in China.â Wangâs affiliation with the Brazilian law school are noted in social media posts from China University of Political Science and Law.
Indeed, Wangâs current bio on the University of Minnesotaâs website states he âholds adjunct and visiting professorships at law schools and business schools in the U.S., China, Austria, Australia, Italy, Switzerland, and Brazil.â The bio, however, does not specify any particular schools with which he is associated.
âNational Advanced Information Workerâ
The Chinese government has recognized Wangâs contributions on at least two occasions, the DCNF found.
CAPD awarded Wang the title âNational Advanced Information Worker For Reflecting Societal Sentiments And The Peopleâs Opinionâ in November 2021 â more than a year after Walz first appointed Wang to the state Asian American affairs council in May 2020.
The list of award recipients appears to have been drafted in December 2020, but officially announced in 2021, according to a review of CAPDâs website.
CAPD created the award in order to commend âoutstanding achievements and contributionsâ related to a 2021 CCP Central Committee memo directing Chinaâs eight âdemocratic partiesâ to expand their implementation of âXi Jinping Thought On Socialism With Chinese Characteristics For A New Era.â
The U.S. Department of Defense describes âXi Jinping Thoughtâ as the Chinese dictatorâs ânamesake ideology.â
In July 2021, the Chinese governmentâs Supreme Peopleâs Procuratorate announced the selection of Wangâs legal research proposal on international cybercrime as a research project to underwrite. The announcement lists Wang by his CAPD membership and his faculty position at China University Of Political Science And Law.
The Supreme Peopleâs Procuratorate offers selected research projects an approximately $7,000 Chinese government subsidy, the departmentâs website states.
The Procuratorate is responsible for legal supervision and prosecution in China, according to the Chinese government.
âWhat this entity in China does has some functions that touch upon the prosecution of people inside the Chinese system, and oversight of what would be rule-of-law type issues generally,â Yates told the DCNF.
Wang did not respond to the DCNFâs questions about the Procuratorate accepting his research proposal or the apparent award that went along with it.
âAdjuncts Of The CCPâ
In addition to cooperating with the CCP, CAPD also has several other Chinese government affiliations, such as serving as a âmember of the patriotic United Front,â according to its website.
The United Front is a âunique blend of engagement, influence activities, and intelligence operationsâ that the CCP uses to âshape its political environment, including to influence other countriesâ policy toward [China] and to gain access to advanced foreign technology,â according to the House Select Committee on the CCP.
CAPD members also serve as delegates to another Chinese government United Front agency called the Chinese Peopleâs Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), according to the CPPCCâs website. The CPPCCâs English-language charter states its delegates must âuphold the leadershipâ of the CCP âand the socialist cause,â âtake advantage of the CPPCC as a United Front organization,â and âkeep state secrets.â
âIn reality, these eight nominal political parties are simply adjuncts of the CCP, and serve as window dressing in fora such as the CPPCC,â Dotson said.
China expert and author Gordon Chang told the DCNF that Walzâs travels through China and his history associating with CCP-tied individuals raises the question of why the governor appointed a member of a CCP-approved political party to serve in Minnesotaâs executive branch.
âWalz appointing a Chinese Communist stooge doesnât automatically make him a Chinese Communist supporter,â Chang said, âbut who other than a Chinese Communist supporter would do that?â
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Philip Lenczycki is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo âTim Walzâ by Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans.