Communism bill postponed due to Chinese visit

The Estonian Parliament has postponed a vote on outlawing communism ahead of a visit to Tallinn by Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

Some MPs have complained of "timid policy making" as a result of this latest twist in what has become an epic attempt to bury the ideology of communism.

"I am sure that foreign policy matters did influence the decision of the Parliament to postpone the vote," said Liia Hanni, MP of the center-right Moderates and a member of the parliamentary constitutional and European affairs commissions.

"In my opinion, Estonia should not hesitate to declare communism a crime, particularly in the face of anybody's visit," said Hanni ahead of Zemin's visit, scheduled for June 12-13.

However, she added that one of the Parliament's tasks was to consider the consequences of its statements.

"The most essential thing is that the statement on communist crimes should be approved before the Parliament's summer vacation," said Hanni.

"The condemnation of communism completes a moment in our native history. It tells about our past, and mostly has importance for interior policy," Hanni concluded.

Luo Xiaobo, attachï of the Chinese Embassy in Tallinn, refused to comment on the case. "This question is an internal affair of your country," said Xiaobo.

According to the Estonian Foreign Affairs Ministry, China is the fourth major exporter to Estonia, supplying over 8 percent of the country's total annual imports. A number of Chinese enterprises are interested in cooperating with Estonian companies working in genome technology and oil-shale processing.

The Parliament suspended discussions on whether to outlaw communism in June 2001.

Mart Nutt, MP for the rightwing Pro Patria Union, launched the idea and 33 out of 101 MPs signed the bill. Nutt insisted it concerned only the Soviet communist regime and not communism in general.

"As we know, the People's Republic of China did not recognize the Soviet occupation of Estonia and has condemned the hegemonic policies of the Soviet Union," he added.

During last year's debates, the ruling Reform Party faction backed suspending the vote, arguing that it would have been used against its presidential candidate Toomas Savi, who was a member of the Communist Party in the Soviet period.

According to the bill, about one-fifth of the Estonian population was forced to leave the country between 1940 and the late 1980s, crimes committed by the occupying powers of the Soviet Union and Germany.

"Given that the crimes of the German national socialist regime are condemned by the international authorities and those of the Soviet Union are still not, the Parliament declares the Soviet communist regime and related organizations such as the NKVD and KGB that enabled those crimes as criminal," reads the statement, which was to be voted on in the Parliament on June 18.

The statement declares that the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party of the Estonian Republic, its branch organization, are responsible for crimes against humanity committed on Estonian soil.

It also says that individuals who served in the law and order agencies of the communist regime cannot be blamed for all the crimes collectively.