CHINA'S INFLUENCE IN THE BALTICS ⟩ Vice Speaker of Estonian Parliament Is An Avid Advocate for Beijing's Political Agenda

The recent visit of Estonian MP's included tours of cultural landmarks like the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, alongside meetings with Chinese representatives, including the Vice Chairman of the National People’s Congress. Delegation also visited key industrial sites such as Daxing Hydrogen Energy Company, JD Company, and BYD Auto Co., Ltd. and met local officials in Zhangjiajie, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong.

On September 2, the Estonia-China parliamentary group delegation met with Wang Chao, Vice Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress and head of the Foreign Affairs Institute of the People's Republic of China. Estonian news portal Delfi reports, that this organization is linked to China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and is involved in influence activities. The institute covered most of the expenses related to the Estonians' visit to China.

The Estonian-China parliamentary group delegation also met with Zheng Jianbang, the vice-chairman of the executive committee of the National People's Congress. He is the secretary-general of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (a faction that broke away from the Taiwan People's Party in 1948).

According to Delfi, since 2018, Zheng has served as the vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, indicating his strong ties to the machinery of the United Front. The United Front's purpose is to consolidate power by forming alliances with non-party forces to support the strategic objectives of the Chinese Communist Party, such as the reunification of Taiwan with China. The council's tasks outside China include influence operations, political intervention, intelligence gathering, and technology transfer.

Upon their return from China, the parliamentarians faced public scrutiny for visiting a key ally of Russia during such a critical time for Ukraine. Criticism also arose over the fact that the Chinese government covered their accommodation, transportation, and meals. Notably, the wife of Toomas Kivimägi accompanied the delegation, with the Vice Speaker reimbursing only for her flight expenses, while other costs were borne by their hosts.

"Estonia has diplomatic ties with China, and active engagement with them is crucial, both for pragmatic reasons and due to these ties," Kivimägi emphasized, commenting on the visit, adding, "this visit is one of the few opportunities for Estonia to present its views. Those who underestimate China's global influence are mistaken."

The Vice Speaker admitted that during a pre-visit meeting with representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he had stated that he does not support the opening of a Taiwanese representative office in Estonia: "Lithuania's experience should serve as a lesson for us. I have expressed this position for over a year, so it is not a new idea."

In February of this year Kivimägi had publicly questioned the security agencies' assessment that Communist China has growing intelligence interests in Estonia in an interview to the Estonian National Broadcasting.

The Foreign Intelligence Service had warned in its annual public report that China has intensified its influence efforts in Europe over the past year, often inviting European officials on fully-funded trips to China to promote its policies. "China's goal is to shift the attitudes of EU officials towards China in a more positive direction through these trips," the report stated, adding that China also seeks to strengthen ties with like-minded foreigners.

Kivimägi, commenting on one of his recent visits to China, then said, "It would be very strange if we opposed friendly relations with China. I experienced no brainwashing, and certainly no attempt to recruit anyone as an 'agent' during my visit. In my view, it was very decent and polite. No ideological pressure, not even a gram of it. I have no complaints in that regard."

While Foreign Intelligence report had warned against China's intensifying spying efforts, Vice Speaker Kivimägi downplayed their warnings, stating that "looking back and at the current situation, I don't think we have excessive reasons to worry. All countries spy on each other to some extent."

Kivimägi was ignoring the fact, that in 2021 Estonian Security Police Board had detained two Estonians, including a renowned maritime scientist Tarmo Kõuts, who were sentenced to jail for conspiracy against the state.

This has not refrained Kivimägi from expressing doubts that China specifically spies on Estonia, stating, "I think they have far greater interests in the UK, Germany, or France. The idea that China is intensely spying on us, I doubt. But, of course, some intelligence activities are happening."

Regarding China's influence, Kivimägi remarked, that "we shouldn’t pick fights with much bigger players."

What makes the recent visit of the Estonian deputies to China even more noteworthy, was that they were briefed of the similar earlier scandal in Latvia and about the risks that emerged with the Latvian case in January this year.

The head of the Latvian parliamentary delegation visiting China was Ainars Slesers, a member of the oppositional alt-right populist party called Latvia First.

Latvian parliamentarians were accompanied by a business delegation, including Edvards Slesers, the son of MP Ainars Slesers representing company named Riga Port.

Interestingly, upon their return from China, Estonian MPs from mainstream political parties adopted a far more radical rhetoric than their Latvian populist counterparts. While both Latvian and Estonian delegates lauded China's economic achievements—with Latvian populists portraying Latvia as a failed state in comparison and extolling China's modern trains—one Estonian delegate, Andrei Korobeinik of the Centrist Party, went so far as to publicly challenge the characterization of China as an undemocratic country.

Mart Maastik, a prominent member of the conservative Isamaa party, stated in an interview at Tallinn Airport that he had 'certainly not understood that the Chinese state supports the war in Ukraine.' He added, 'I don’t know; I lack that information,' as aired on the Estonian National Broadcasting evening news program. According to Maastik, China's 'primary concern was NATO expansion,' with Chinese officials asserting that NATO is expanding as if it were an organization seeking to extend its influence globally merely to seize power.

The actions of Estonian and Latvian MP's are particularly awkward when contrasted with Lithuania's principled stance on China, which, despite leading to economic repercussions from Beijing, has remained resolute. According to Center for Strategic and International Studies China has introduced informal secondary sanctions against Lithuania.

Vice Speaker of the Estonian Parliament, Toomas Kivimägi, has recently walked back some of his earlier statements, attempting to reframe the issue as one of accepting partial financial support from the Chinese government during the visit—something he suggests is a common practice in inter-parliamentary diplomacy.

Kivimägi's party colleague, Prime Minister Kristen Michal, has publicly condemned the recent visit of Estonian parliamentary deputies to China. However, the deeper issue troubling Estonian foreign policy is not merely the decision of six parliamentarians to visit China, but rather that the Vice Speaker of the Estonian Parliament, Toomas Kivimägi, has for some time been a vocal advocate of an authoritarian regime and a close ally of an aggressor state like Russia.

'In the midst of all this, I feel embarrassed for the Chinese Ambassador to Estonia, who is a very balanced, constructive, and polite individual, and to see such a barrage of accusations for merely fulfilling the wishes of parliament members... it is sad,' Kivimägi wrote in his op-ed in Postimees on September 11.

Kivimägi also noted, that one of the concerns he carries 'as a human being' is the escalation of the Ukraine war into a nuclear conflict. 'Thankfully, that hasn’t happened, and there is no doubt that this is primarily due to China’s opposition, which they have publicly stated. At the same time, China can do significantly more to end this war than it has done so far,' Vice Speaker of the Estonian Parliament noted.

However, following the controversial visit, Toomas Kivimägi has continued to insist that there is no evidence whatsoever of Chinese military aid to the aggressor state, Russia.