POLITICAL REALITIES

Sep 14, 2000

Li Peng, who has been slammed by the media as the person responsible for bloodshed when tanks and bullets of the Chinese army killed hundreds of student protesters in Tiananmen square in 1989, is one of the last dinosaurs of the communist age. He personifies China's occupation of Tibet, as well as, with constant threats of aggression, China's strained relations with Taiwan. So when countries that broke from communism only recently, like the three Baltic states, welcome one of the relics of the communist world, it may seem very odd.

However, it must be noted that China has never recognized the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states' and was one of the first countries to recognize the independence of the freshly released states. And developing economic ties with one of the world's largest countries is a process worth pursuing.

Maybe that's the reason Baltic officials welcomed Li Peng with due respect. Still, Estonians and Lithuanians rightly brought up the unpleasant human rights issues, occupation of Tibet, Taiwan and other sensitive issues. The anti-Communism tribunal held in Lithuania even seemed so scary to the high-ranking guest, that he did not dare leave the Vilnius airport. Unfortunately this was not the case in Latvia, where Prime Minister Andris Berzins was swaggering with his "souvenir" - Li Peng's improvised drawing of the Eurasian map complete with trade routes between Latvia and China. A day after the visit the Latvian Foreign Ministry issued a statement heralding the nine years since diplomatic relations between the two countries were established. "The character of relationship is stable and constructive, and it demonstrates that different historical, cultural and religious traditions are not an obstacle to good interstate relations," the statement says. Different traditions in human rights issues were not mentioned.

Latvian good behavior was correspondingly rewarded - the computer equipment and stationery worth 20,000 lats ($32,786) were presented by the Chinese leader as a gift to the Latvian Parliament.

For countries that spent over 50 years under Communist regime such a short memory is unacceptable. Democracy is the cornerstone of a modern society and the Balts as well as anyone can remind the rest of the world of the dangers if it is broken.

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