Democratic vice-presidential nominee and running mate of Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, has been mired in a lot of controversy ever since he reportedly was once romantically linked with Jenna Wang, whose father is a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party. A Daily Mail report stated their affair, which began when Walz was teaching in China in 1989, rendered Wang suicidal and devastated.
This development came just days before the U.S. presidential election, November 5, in which Harris was to face off with the Republican Donald Trump. That timing is particularly welcome in the wake of Walz having recently gotten some criticism about his false claims that he was in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square massacre. Before turning to politics, Walz was a high school English teacher in Foshan, Guangdong province. He is currently the Governor of Minnesota.
In one interview, Wang remembered that she met Walz for the first time when she was attending his English lecture to work on her pronunciation. She said he reached over and took off her headphones, and then he leaned down and whispered, “You are very beautiful,” the beginning of their clandestine relationship.
Soon after, the two started seeing each other often; they went jogging and danced around. Wang added that during weekends, Walz would go on trips to Hong Kong and return with gifts: costly ones- Ray-Ban sunglasses and jewelry.
Wang said their romance only flourished secretly, as her father would never approve of her relationship with a Westerner. She also said the powerful passion of their love affair inspired her to dream of marrying him and emigrating to the U.S. “Tim Walz was very passionate and very romantic. because the restrictions on public display of affection made our private moments even more thrilling,” she said.
She also said that Walz never proposed to her, and their debates on the depth of her feelings became an escalating tension. Wang felt betrayed and angry, and this led to her fleeing China for Italy. After all, knowing he wasn’t going to marry me, I felt cheap and common, as if I were a prostitute. I felt very insulted and hurt. I had to leave because so many people were aware of our relationship.
Following his 1993 return to the United States, Walz married Gwen Whipple, a former school teacher, with whom he has two children. Now, as the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, Wang has weighed in, saying Wang is not fit for high office and lacks the “character and integrity to do one of the most important jobs in the world.”
