Remember House Speaker Dennis Hastert? Grooming for sex? Now in prison. Or is Walz grooming young Americans as spies for China?

Tim Walz's China Connection Explained

Published Aug 06, 2024 at 12:39 PM EDT

Updated Aug 06, 2024 at 3:23 PM EDT

In 1989, Walz earned a B.S. in social science education from Chadron State College in his native Nebraska. According to the Lincoln Journal Star, Walz also took classes in East Asia Studies at the University of Houston in 1985.

Following his graduation, the Minnesota governor and former Congressman spent approximately one year teaching high school in China as part of Harvard University's WorldTeach program. Walz was among the first government-sanctioned groups of American educators to teach in China.

Also a longtime member of the Army National Guard, Walz taught American history, culture and English to Chinese high school students, according to reports.

"Going there was one of the best things I've ever done," he told the Nebraska National Guard's newspaper after his return from China.

Five years later, Walz and his wife, Gwen, who is also a teacher, spent their honeymoon in China. The pair spent their trip leading two high school tour groups, according to the Journal Star.

In 1994, the Walz's set up a company called Educational Travel Adventures, Inc., which organized annual student trips to China, according to business records reviewed by Newsweek. Gwen Walz's biography states that she and the vice presidential hopeful organized these trips until 2003.

https://www.newsweek.com/tim-walz-kamala-harris-vp-china-connection-explained-1935361