Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz Advocates for Group Linked to Wuhan Institute of Virology, Pushes for Federal Funding

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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) has been a key supporter of a state research group that partnered with China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology, the facility at the center of the controversial coronavirus lab leak theory. The group, the Hormel Institute, has worked with the Wuhan institute on various research projects.

Over the years, Walz has consistently backed the Hormel Institute, helping it secure millions of dollars in funding. As a member of Congress, Walz lobbied for additional federal funding for the organization, dating back to 2008, and continued to champion its work as governor.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology has faced intense global scrutiny since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with some theories suggesting a possible lab origin for the virus. Despite the controversy, Walz’s support for the Hormel Institute and its research collaborations remains firm.

According to the Examiner, the organization been involved with the Wuhan Institute of Virology as well:

In recent years, researchers at the Hormel Institute have teamed up with the Wuhan Institute of Virology on a variety of projects, including in 2020 for a COVID-19 study and as recently as this year on structural biology research.

In 2020, the Hormel Institute also disclosed in the “funding information” section of a separate EMBO Journal study that it received “help from the Core Facility and Technical Support” of the WIV for “radioactive and fluorescent tests,” the Washington Examiner found.

Similarly, in January 2024, Hormel Institute researchers published a study on genes with the WIV’s Lina He, Wei Zhou, and Yangbo Hu. The WIV was used for “radioactive tests,” according to page 10 of the study.

Walz’s connections to China are drawing fresh attention, as his long-standing relationship with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) raises concerns. Walz has cultivated ties with China for years, including organizing exchange programs and advocating for closer cooperation with the CCP.

Peter Schweizer, a New York Times bestselling author and senior contributor to Breitbart News, discussed Walz’s history during an August appearance on Breitbart News Daily. Schweizer highlighted Walz’s student exchange program with China, which was reportedly organized and funded by the CCP. He also noted that Walz advised participants to minimize their “Americanness” while in China, a move that some see as deference to the Chinese government.

Walz has visited China more than two dozen times, including his honeymoon, and has maintained a consistent engagement with Chinese officials. In 2019, he delivered a speech to an organization that Schweizer claims was a CCP front group, further raising questions about his involvement with the regime. Schweizer also pointed out that Walz has consistently framed China in a favorable light, even downplaying concerns about human rights abuses. Notably, in 2010, Walz compared the Tiananmen Square Massacre, in which thousands were killed by Chinese military forces, to the Wounded Knee massacre in the U.S. during the 19th century, a comparison critics have called inappropriate.

Additionally, Schweizer revealed that one of China’s “secret police stations” operating in the U.S. is located in Minnesota’s Twin Cities, within Walz’s home state, adding another layer to the controversy surrounding his ties to China.

Further evidence of China ties for Walz, however, is not surprising, as he has a long history of courting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

“The concerns are, look, you know, you can like China. You can like the Chinese people. The question is, when you set up an exchange program, as he did, to bring students to China, you’re not dealing with the Chinese people — you’re dealing with the Chinese Communist Party. And in the case of his program, it’s funded by the CCP. It was organized with the help of the CCP,” New York Times bestselling author and Breitbart News senior contributor Peter Schweizer said during an appearance on Breitbart News Daily in August, noting that Walz urged those students to tone down their “Americanness” when going to China.

Walz, who has been to China over two dozen times — even honeymooning there — has other odd connections. In 2019, for example, he delivered a speech for an organization which served as a front group for the CCP.

“And yet, in 2019 he goes and gives them a speech. … Whenever he talks about China, it’s with a lot of warmth. And whenever there are issues raised about its human rights situation, there’s always a well, you know, we have the same kind of thing. We have the same problems. You know, the most famous one he did in 2010 was talking about the Tiananmen Square Massacre, when 10,000 people were killed by the Chinese military. And he said, ‘Well, you know, we had Wounded Knee.’ You know, of course, Wounded Knee was in the 19th century. Casualties were, you know, maybe one percent. It was a horrible situation. I’m not minimizing it, but to compare Wounded Knee with Tiananmen Square is kind of the ridiculous kind of comparisons that he tries to draw to sort of normalize CCP behavior,” Schweizer said, also revealing the “secret police stations that the Chinese have here in the United States” has one in the Twin Cities in Walz’s home state.

“And the organization that runs that secret police station is tied to a group called Minnesota Global, which is a Tim Walz organization,” he added.

All of this comes as the House Oversight Committee launches an investigation into Walz’s numerous connections to China following what they describe as “reports detailing the Governor’s longstanding connections to Chinese Communist Party entities and officials.”

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