Tim Walz cornered over claim he was in Hong Kong during 1989 protest: I misspoke

New Delhi,UPDATED: Oct 2, 2024 07:45 IST

Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz found himself in a tough spot during a debate with Donald Trump’s running mate and Republican Senator JD Vance after questions arose about the timeline of a trip he took to China in 1989.

The controversy, which surfaced just ahead of the highly anticipated vice presidential debate, centers on whether Walz made misleading claims about his presence in Hong Kong during the tumultuous period of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Republicans seized on the discrepancy, with Walz’s opponents accusing him of misrepresenting his experience for political gain.

During the debate, the moderator questioned Walz about reports that suggested he had falsely claimed to be in Hong Kong during the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations that ended in a brutal crackdown by the Chinese government.

In response, Walz admitted he had misspoken about the timeline and pivoted to highlight his dedication to public service, both as an educator and a soldier.

"As a young teacher my first year out, I got the opportunity in the summer of 1989 to travel to China, thirty-five years ago," Walz said. "I came back home and then started a programme to take young people there. We would take basketball teams, we would take baseball teams, we would take dancers, and we would go back and forth to China. The issue for that was to try and learn."

Hitting back at his opponents, he pointed I would make the case that Donald Trump should’ve come on one of those trips with us. I guarantee he wouldn’t be praising Xi about Covid."

The Minnesota Governor also defended his motivations for travelling to China, emphasising the importance of cross-cultural understanding.

The controversy first emerged after a 2019 radio interview resurfaced in which Walz stated that he was in Hong Kong on the day of the Tiananmen Square massacre, June 4, 1989. However, publicly available evidence, including a report from Minnesota Public Radio, contradicts this claim. Records suggest that Walz did not leave for China until August 1989, several months after the massacre, and was likely in Nebraska at the time of the incident.

With inputs from AP