Minnesotan from communist China sounds alarm on Tim Walz

“If we don’t do something now … we don’t want to tell our future generations that when we had the chance that we didn’t,” said Allen Shen, an Army veteran and businessman who was born in communist China.

Allen Shen, a Minnesota man who was born in communist China, talks with Alpha News reporter Liz Collin. Alpha News

By Liz Collin, Alpha News – September 3, 2024

Allen Shen, a Minnesota man who was born in communist China, is sharing a warning about Gov. Tim Walz. Shen joined Liz Collin Reports to explain the “shocking similarities” he sees between Minnesota and Mao’s Cultural Revolution.

Shen is an Army veteran, businessman, and a Republican who previously ran for a seat in the Minnesota House. He was born in communist China and came to Minnesota when he was 12 years old.

“I was growing up in the 1980s. People might not know that the ‘80s were actually the honeymoon time between the US and China because of Nixon visiting and Jimmy Carter establishing relationships … we learned quite a bit about the West,” Shen said.

“Things were all good until the Tiananmen Square massacre. I think because the society was more open than today and of course during the Cultural Revolution, the students were marching on the streets and protesting, asking for freedom and all those things. Today, there’s no way you can do that,” he explained.

How communists ‘erase a country’s history’

After diving into his family history, Shen has spent years educating others about communist China by speaking in front of college students and other groups about the realities of communism.

In pointing out some of the similarities between the Chinese Cultural Revolution and the current-day Democratic Party, Shen remarked, “I see that the Democrat Party has been changing so much and their messaging, their way of dividing people. I find a lot of similarities between what they’re doing and what Mao did during the Cultural Revolution.”

Shen also pointed out that “when communists come into a country, they try to erase a country’s identity, erase a country’s history. That’s what Mao did because Mao burned down all these old Chinese temples, erased Chinese history. Anything old was deemed bad. So he burned down all the old statues. I’m just telling my students here in Minnesota, burning down old statues. Does that sound familiar?”

The toppling of the Christopher Columbus statue at the Minnesota Capitol in June of 2020 is just one reference that supports Shen’s comparison. He also believes the new Minnesota state flag under Gov. Walz is problematic, pointing to the erasing of Minnesota’s history.

Key comparisons

In speaking of his own experiences and knowledge of his family’s history, Shen explained, “I think when they come to take over a country, they have to erase identity. So when a country loses its identity, it’s easy to control. It’s easy to indoctrinate.”

He also explained a Chinese slogan that means “Mao is the most dearest to you more than your parents” and how during the Cultural Revolution children were reporting their parents for cultural violations—which he compared to the reporting of COVID violations through Minnesota’s “snitch line” during the pandemic.

“Now, we have this Walz and Kamala Harris running as America’s dad or parents, right?” Shen observed.

In reflecting on lessons we can learn from the past, Shen explained that “during the Cultural Revolution, he [Mao] punished a lot of people for what their grandparents did. So if your grandparents were store owners, landowners, they owned a business, they collected old antiques, that’s deemed a crime. Even though you did not do anything, you would be put in jail or the Red Guards would ransack your homes or they put you on the street to shame you. To me, that sounds a lot like what they’re calling reparations right now.”

“In most communist countries, like during Mao’s revolution, one of the very symbolic icons is raising the fist, because that’s really a communist symbol. Raising the fist—break the old and build the new. Everything old is bad, everything new is good,” Shen said, drawing a comparison to the fact that “a fist” is prominently displayed at 38th and Chicago in George Floyd Square in Minneapolis.

Shen also compared Antifa and Black Lives Matter to the Red Guard from communist China: “Because during the Cultural Revolution, the Red Guards would pretty much, they don’t have any regards of any loss. They can burn, loot, ransack and destroy anything that they think is justifiable.”

How words and language matter

Shen also sees similarities in the language used in the Walz-Harris campaign, particularly how their campaign has been using the word “joy,” and how Mao’s regime made use of the idea.

Shen explained, “for example, a lot of posters during Mao’s Cultural Revolution, you see all the posters of the CCP, everyone’s happy, everyone’s joyful, everyone’s looking at Mao smiling, because Mao, they call it the red sun. So he brings joy to people. So, if your home is ransacked by them. You cannot talk about it. If your land was taken away by them, you cannot talk about it. So being joyful was actually politically correct. So if you’re not happy about the government, you’re anti-revolutionary.”

Is Gov. Walz a Maoist?

Shen also questioned whether Walz, who made dozens of trips to China, embraced Maoist ideology.

“He’s like a core Maoist, he probably found out that in China, the system that you can have absolute power, and he might now be envious of the powers the Chinese government has,” Shen speculated as there is growing concern over Walz and his ties to China.

‘I didn’t leave the party’

Shen admits to becoming a Republican in 2016.

“Even when I was voting Democrat or supporting Democrat candidates, I was still a patriot. I was still for American interests. I still want to bring jobs back to the US from China. All those values did not change, just the party changed so much. I can quote Ronald Reagan that I did not leave the party, the party left me.

“If we don’t do something now … we don’t want to tell our future generations that when we had the chance that we didn’t,” Shen said.