China Blocks UN Security Council Presidential Statement on Burma

***The 19 ONLINE PETITIONS/PLEDGES FOR BURMA HERE.***
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Last Thursday, US Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad has publicly stated that China has blocked the issuance of a UN Security Council Resolution on Burma. The story HERE.
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The US on Thursday alleged that China blocked the issuing of a presidential statement on Burma at the UN Security Council.

Led by the US, a majority of the countries in the 15-member Security Council had favored issuing a presidential statement after closed door consultations on Tuesday and a briefing on the Burmese issue by Ibrahim Gambari, the UN Special Envoy on Burma.

A presidential statement—though not legally binding, unlike a resolution—can only be issued with a consensus, meaning that all members of the Security Council have to agree on it and its content. China opposed issuing a presidential statement on Burma, which would have been the second one in a little over a month.

“We were disappointed by their (China’s) unwillingness to support a PRST (presidential statement). They were only willing to support a statement. We worked hard to persuade them to go for a PRST, but they did not cooperate,” the US Ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad said.

At the same time, Khalilzad noted the cooperation of China in the past with regard to Burma in facilitating the work of Gambari.

This is for the first time that a top US official has come out openly to state that China was not cooperating with it and other like-minded members of the Security Council on the issue of Burma. This was very much evident on Tuesday during the debate on Burma at the Security Council. While China and Russia observed that sanctions against Burma were counterproductive and termed the mission of Gambari to Burma as successful, the delegates of the US, Britain and France observed that the steps taken by the Burmese junta following international pressure were timid and more needed to be done.

Burma's Link between Environmental Degradation and Human Rights Abuses

***The 18 ONLINE PETITIONS FOR BURMA HERE.***
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*The petitions are now up to 18. Here's the newest one--The Burma Rivers Network's PETITION calls on the Chinese government to closely monitor Chinese companies that invest in hydropower and other extractive industries in Burma (and other countries). Nontransparent operation, poor oversight, and not keeping affect communities informed has led to environmental degradation and human rights abuses in Burma.

In my opinion, most commentators and analysts have overwhelmingly overlooked to what extent foreign and government investment in large scale development projects has lead to environmental degradation and human rights abuses. Many hydropower plants, mines, timber concessions, and other infrastructure projects are located in armed conflict areas. Villagers are often forced to work on these projects with no pay or food, often to the point of starvation, exhaustion, and sickness. Many are killed for not being able to continue carrying excessive loads.

Even worse, Burma Army soldiers are employed to ensure the security of these projects. As projects are commonly located in ethnic conflict areas, it gives the opportunity for Burmese troops to continue their use of torture, killings, sexual violence, and village destruction to further subjugate ethnic groups and to weaken the resistance movement--these projects are part in parcel of the junta's campaign to extend influence and to consolidate control.

For more on this ecological perspective, other sources to look at:

Salween Watch
Earthrights International
International Rivers Network
Foundation for Ecological Recovery
South East Asia Rivers Network
Shan Herald Agency for News

What Burma Wants from the World

***The 14 ONLINE PETITIONS FOR BURMA HERE.***
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All from BBC.
The hardship that sparked Burma's unrest. Oct. 2
What Burma wants from the World. Oct. 9
Burma 'still hunting protesters'. Oct. 17
Unlikely resistance in Burma's Mandalay. Oct. 25
Inside Burma; Your Questions Answered. Oct. 12
Poverty driving Burmese Workers East. Oct. 10
China's crucial role in Burma crisis. Sept. 27
Burma minority 'fleeing to India'. Oct. 23
Japan adds to pressure on Burma. Oct. 16

Stop the Bloodshed in Burma - Sign the Petition

A new petition addressed to ASEAN, from US-based Human Rights First. Please sign before the ASEAN meeting on November 17th HERE. (http://action.humanrightsfirst.org/campaign/burma_neighbors.

***The other 11 ONLINE PETITIONS FOR BURMA HERE.***
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Stop the Bloodshed in Burma - Sign the Petition

Monks and innocent citizens were recently slaughtered in Burma for peacefully protesting the oppressive military junta. How much longer can we allow these serious human rights abuses to be perpetrated?

We must bring peace and stability to the region as quickly as possible. China and the countries neighboring Burma can play a very important role at an upcoming meeting, but we need you to help make it happen. The direct influence of these countries on the military junta in Burma cannot be overstated.

Take a minute today to ask these countries to take action on Burma.


Subject:
Take Action on Burma at ASEAN Meeting

Your Excellencies,

It is time for Burma's neighbors to take serious action to stop the bloodshed and bring peace and stability to the region. Therefore, we call upon you to ensure that the upcoming ASEAN meeting in Singapore on November 17, 2007 includes a robust discussion about how ASEAN members States and their partners, including China, can urge the State Peace and Development Council to stop killing peaceful protestors, release political prisoners, and begin a democratization process.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations argued for Burma's admission to the group in 1997, claiming that this would encourage respect for human rights and a democratization process in that country. Ten years later, Burma's military continues to use arms against its own citizens - including Buddhist monks, women, and children - who are guilty of nothing more than a desire for peace, democracy, and human rights in Burma.

The Government of China has repeatedly claimed that the current crisis in Burma is an "internal affair," but the members of ASEAN know better. As ASEAN legislators from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand stated recently, "Burma is indeed a regional security and stability threat." Burma's neighbors-ASEAN member States and China alike-have a special responsibility to encourage the SPDC to respond to its own citizens' legitimate demands without violence or repression.

We believe the following demands should be made of the SPDC at the upcoming ASEAN summit:

* Stop using violence to quell peaceful dissent in the event of future protests;

* Account for all those persons killed, incarcerated, or illegally detained during the recent protests;

* Release all political prisoners;

* Lift restrictions on the monks who participated in recent protests;

* Lift conditions for a meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi.

As a Security Council member, it is in China's interest to ensure that all Security Resolutions relating to Burma are implemented. As neighbors of Burma, it is in the interest of China and all ASEAN members to press the SPDC to start the democratization process. Absent peace and human rights in Burma, sustainable regional security is impossible.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address]

Stop the Bloodshed in Burma - Sign the Petition

Monks and innocent citizens were recently slaughtered in Burma for peacefully protesting the oppressive military junta. How much longer can we allow these serious human rights abuses to be perpetrated?

We must bring peace and stability to the region as quickly as possible. China and the countries neighboring Burma can play a very important role at an upcoming meeting, but we need you to help make it happen. The direct influence of these countries on the military junta in Burma cannot be overstated.

Take a minute today to ask these countries to take action on Burma.


Subject:
Take Action on Burma at ASEAN Meeting

Your Excellencies,

It is time for Burma's neighbors to take serious action to stop the bloodshed and bring peace and stability to the region. Therefore, we call upon you to ensure that the upcoming ASEAN meeting in Singapore on November 17, 2007 includes a robust discussion about how ASEAN members States and their partners, including China, can urge the State Peace and Development Council to stop killing peaceful protestors, release political prisoners, and begin a democratization process.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations argued for Burma's admission to the group in 1997, claiming that this would encourage respect for human rights and a democratization process in that country. Ten years later, Burma's military continues to use arms against its own citizens - including Buddhist monks, women, and children - who are guilty of nothing more than a desire for peace, democracy, and human rights in Burma.

The Government of China has repeatedly claimed that the current crisis in Burma is an "internal affair," but the members of ASEAN know better. As ASEAN legislators from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand stated recently, "Burma is indeed a regional security and stability threat." Burma's neighbors-ASEAN member States and China alike-have a special responsibility to encourage the SPDC to respond to its own citizens' legitimate demands without violence or repression.

We believe the following demands should be made of the SPDC at the upcoming ASEAN summit:

* Stop using violence to quell peaceful dissent in the event of future protests;

* Account for all those persons killed, incarcerated, or illegally detained during the recent protests;

* Release all political prisoners;

* Lift restrictions on the monks who participated in recent protests;

* Lift conditions for a meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi.

As a Security Council member, it is in China's interest to ensure that all Security Resolutions relating to Burma are implemented. As neighbors of Burma, it is in the interest of China and all ASEAN members to press the SPDC to start the democratization process. Absent peace and human rights in Burma, sustainable regional security is impossible.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address]

Oct. 24th UN Day / Aung San Suu Kyi Day

***The 11 ONLINE PETITIONS FOR BURMA HERE.***
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from US Campaign for Burma:

This Wednesday, October 24th, is an important day for Burma. It is: 1) United Nations Day, 2) The day when Aung San Suu Kyi will have been under house arrest for a total of 12 years, and 3) One month since the uprisings in Burma were at their peak.

We will be marking this day with a host of actions around the world.

- Several organizations are working together to organize in 12 cities around the world. At 12 noon, demonstrators dressed in white (as political prisoners are forced to wear inside Burma) will gather in front of Chinese embassies. Please let us know if you want to participate in the demonstration in Washington, DC.

- A group of Burmese monks and exiles have been marching from Albany, NY to the United Nations in a peace walk. On Wednesday, please join with them as they continue their march from the Burmese regime's Mission in New York to the United Nations from 10-11 am. The Mission is located on 10E and 77th St. For more info, the cell phone for the peace walk is (518) 605-8506.

- For those of you who cannot participate in these actions we are asking you to ensure that the American public does not forget Burma. We are asking you on this day to reinvigorate public attention by writing an op-ed article for your local newspaper, write a post on your blog or facebook profile, host a teach in for your friends and neighbors, or for more suggestions visit our action page

The Burmese regime may be the jailer of Aung San Suu Kyi and thousands of other prisoners, but China holds the key to her release. The United Nations Security Council (of which China is a member) must act urgently as more and more people are being hunted down, arrested and tortured. China must not block Security Council action. We will show that we will not allow Burma's regime to hide its abuses from the world.. The United Nations Security Council needs to pass a global arms embargo now!

The Oslo Center for Human Rights' Letter: 21 Former World Leaders Call on China to Change Position on Burma, Support Arms Embargo

***The 10 ONLINE PETITIONS FOR BURMA HERE.***

Last week, 21 world leaders issued a letter (full text HERE) to Chinese President Hu Jintao with 3 demands, including support of an international arms embargo against the ruling junta:

(1) Support the international calls for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners in Burma;

(2) Utilize fully China's unique position to facilitate/support a peaceful tri-partite dialogue, as referred to ...by the UN General Assembly; and

(3) Support Security Council agreement on a peaceful binding resolution designed to strengthen the multilaterla political efforts and impose an immediate arms embargo for Burma.

In spite of the UN Secretary General, the UN General Assembly, ASEAN, the EU, 59 former Presidents and Prime Ministers and all living Nobel Peace Laureates' support of Aung San Suu Kyi and democracy in Burma, China is surprisingly obstinate in its continued support for Burma.

Here is Archbishop Desmond Tutu's call for peace in Burma. Tutu, a Nobel Peace Laureate, is a leading support of the Olympics Boycott on the condition that China continues its backing of Burma's generals.

HERE is the press conference video of Tutu on Sept. 28, two days after the crackdown began. Same as the video embedded below:

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Today's email from US Campaign for Burma

When one reads the Olympic slogan "One World, One Dream" it may seem hypocritical to some that China would block a UN initiative to ban arms shipments to a miltary regime that only uses them on their own people. Yet, it is true.

In fact, the UN Security Council is right now working on a non-binding statement to criticize the slaughter of innocent monks and civilians in Burma, and China is even trying to "water down" the language so it is as weak as possible. Shameful. (AFP Article HERE).

We are only just beginning to fight, and China is going to be hearing from a lot more people in the very near future. As long as China refuses to do anything meaningful on Burma, we will support an Olympic boycott. (More info on the Olympics boycott HERE). As of now the Olympic games are a shameful tribute to the worst kind of behavior. Take a minute today to send an email to the Olympic organizers letting them know where you stand. We want millions of people to email them and let them know you plan to boycott the Olympics: ticketsupport@beijing2008.cn

China is greatly concerned about the possibility of a boycott -- that is why last week they called an emergency press conference in Washington, DC to defend themselves -- but at the press conference, they announced no changes in their policy on Burma. It was just a sham. (Washington Post Article HERE).

Let's take action today -- let them hear you loud and clear.

Aung Din, Jeremy Woodrum, Jennifer Quigley, and Thelma Young

China Seeks Revisions of UNSC Statement

***The 10 ONLINE PETITIONS FOR BURMA HERE.***
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Despite harsh international criticism and threats of an Olympic boycott, China's support for Burma has not diminished, but rather threatens to undermine possible UN Security Council action. For more on the Olympic boycott on behalf of Burma (and Darfur, Tibet, and other victims of China's policies), please visit the No Olympics blog HERE.
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News.com.au's article published yesterday:

UN security council experts met today to finetune a Western-sponsored statement condemning the bloody military crackdown in Burma, but China pressed for softer language.

Experts from the council's 15 members huddled behind closed doors this afternoon in a search of consensus on a draft that could be submitted to their ambassadors for approval.

Early today, China's deputy UN ambassador Liu Zhenmin said there would be consultations "to improve the text", meaning to soften language in the draft submitted by the United States, Britain and France on Friday.

The three Western powers introduced their text after the council heard a report from UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari on his recent mission to Burma to defuse the crisis.

The draft would condemn "the violent repression of peaceful demonstrations" by Burma's rulers, urge them to "cease repressive measures" and release detainees as well as all political prisoners, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

It was submitted amid intense pressure for strong council action from world public opinion following outrage over Burma's deadly repression of peaceful anti-government protests led by Buddhist monks late last month.

Official figures reveal at least 13 people died and more than 2100 were locked up in the crackdown as security forces used live rounds, baton charges and tear gas to crush protests involving up to 100,000 people.

On Saturday, protests were held in several cities around the world in support of Burma's embattled pro-democracy movement.

"What is important is that the council give a strong message in support of Professor Gambari," a South African diplomat said as he went into the meeting.

The diplomat predicted agreement on a text by Wednesday at the earliest.

Italy's UN Ambassador Marcello Spatafora for his part stressed that it was urgent for the council to send a "strong, unified' message to Burma's ruling junta.

"There's a sense of urgency to send a strong message, a unified message, at the right moment. That is now," he said.

Unlike a resolution, a presidential statement requires the consent of all 15 members to be adopted.

China, which has close ties with Burma and favours constructive engagement with its military regime, warned last week that putting pressure on the ruling generals "would lead to confrontation".

China's UN envoy Wang Guangya Friday urged members to adopt "a prudent and responsible approach".

The United States has threatened to push for UN sanctions against the military regime, including an arms embargo, if it refuses to halt its crackdown and refused to cooperate with Mr Gambari's mediation for national reconciliation.

But any sanctions resolution was likely to face resistance and possibly a veto from China and Russia, which deem the turmoil in the South-East Asian country an internal matter and not a threat to broader peace and security.

Last January, China and Russia used a rare double veto to block a US-sponsored draft resolution that would have called on Burma's rulers to free all political detainees and end sexual violence by the military.

In a conciliatory move apparently aimed at forestalling tough council condemnation, Burma's rulers trumpeted the release of hundreds of monks and demonstrators and donated thousands of dollars as well as food and medicines to monasteries in rangoon.

And junta chief Than Shwe named the deputy labour minister, Aung Kyi, as the "manager for relations" with Aung San Suu Kyi, four days after the military supremo made a heavily conditioned offer to meet with the Nobel Peace prize laureate, state television said.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who has come to symbolise Burma's peaceful struggle for democracy, has spent most of the past 18 years under house arrest.

On Friday, Mr Gambari had said that all council members agreed the status quo in Burma "is unacceptable and unsustainable" and backed his plan to pay a return visit to Burma before mid-November.

Continued support for junta earns China sharp criticisms

The 9 PETITIONS FOR BURMA HERE. (feel free to link it and anything off this blog)
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Last week spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington Wang Baodong said that the Chinese Government was concerned about the situation in Burma but did not feel that it constituted a threat to regional or global peace and security. CNN quoted him declaring,

"China has been working on the various parties in the country, focusing its effort on the prevention of the occurrence of large-scale bloody events," Baodong said. "We believe this is a domestic issue that does not constitute a threat to the international community."

Last Friday Wang Guangya, China’s ambassador to the UN, stated that while situation in Burma was “disturbing,” it did not justify sanctions or Security Council action.

China's (and Russia's) unapologetic claim that the ongoing strife in Burma is an internal affair has further incensed the opposition and drawing the very ire that China so despearately seeks to avoid leading up to the upcoming Olympics. Many activists including Archbishop Desmond Tutu are calling for a general boycott of the Olympics. While the Chinese government doesn't want the conflicts in Burma and Darfur and the political issues of North Korea and Tibet to cloud over the importance of the Olympics, they are convinced that the idea of a boycott will never the realized. China's perspective explained HERE.

Actually, the fact is that Burma's internal woes do much to destabilize both the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Thailand and Bangladesh bear the brunt of migrants fleeing the carnage. In addition to the 2 to 4 million internally displaced peoples within Burma, there are more than 1 million refugees in neighboring Thailand and Bangladesh. Illegal migrants put much stress on social services of host countries--to the point where Thai authorities are resistant to give refugee status to most of the Burmese who cross the border.Moreover, drug trafficking is a global issue. The International Drug Trade finds its supply base in Burma. Because of corruption and poor government monitoring, Burma is the world's #2 supplier of heroin and Southeast Asia's #1 supplier of methanphetamines.

Not learning from the uproars received response to their vetoing of the UN Resolution on Burma last January, China and Russia continue their hard-line defense of Burma. Their argument against sanctions--a view supported by the American, Chinese, South Korean, and Indian companies operating within Burma--is that if sanctions are enforced and companies pull out of Burma, the level of suffering will be much greater than it is now. The power vacuum that would ensue would allow even less ethical corporations to assume power. French oil giant Total SA argues that its business practices in Burma are held to the highest ethical standards.

Last month Earthrights International published THIS backgrounder on China's investments in Burma's natural resources.

The Dirty List of companies doing business with Burma's junta, compiled by The Burma Campaign UK.

The Clean List of companies that have either pulled out of Burma, or made a principled decision not to do business in Burma. It is not comprehensive, but does give a scope of how public outcry has led to corporate social responsibily. The list details the companies' reasons for pulling out or refraining from investing in Burma. Also compiled by the Burma Campaign UK.

One dissident created this video, representative of the rage felt against China's support of the oppressive junta.

For Burma: National Campus Day of Action Oct 5 /Global Day of Action Oct 6

!!!!!!!!!!A Global Day of Action is currently being organized. Get involved. Show that you care.!!!!!!!!!!
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Chinese Support for Myanmar's Junta Sparks Olympics Boycott Epoch Times Article

- from the US Campaign for Burma
We are writing this urgent email to call for global demonstrations on Burma this coming Saturday, October 6th to demand the UN Security Council take action on Burma and to call for a global boycott of the 2008 Olympics. We are working together with a huge coalition of international organizations to put together this incredible day of action and we need you to make it happen.

This is one day after a day of student demonstrations across the Unted States on October 5th.

We are expecting demonstrations and protests in up to 35 countries around the world. We are asking for everyone to wear the color red on that day -- red shirts, headbands, or other -- in solidarity with the monks inside Burma. Organize an event or protest in your community, church, city or join us at the Chinese embassies and consulates in the United States and around the world.

As you know, the UN Security Council shamefully has not lifted a finger to help the courageous Burmese monks and civilians even as they are slaughtered by solders wth automatic weapons. The Security Council has also never even breathed a word after the military regime in Burma destroyed over 3,000 villages -- nearly twice as many as have been destroyed in Darfur. The Burmese regime's scorched earth campaign in eastern Burma has been perhaps the most under-reported tragedy perhaps in the world.

There is one reason only for the paralysis of the Security Council: China. One country has singlehandedly blocked the international community from stopping the carnage in Burma. As a result, the UN is making the same mistakes it made on Rwanda and Darfur: sitting on its hands waiting while people die.

Nobel Peace Prize recipent Desmond Tutu has joined us in this call, saying he will boycott the Olympics unless China changes its position at the UN Security Council.

Please pledge to boycott the 2008 Olympics today. The 2008 Olympics have become a monument to savagery and immorality

(p.s. we know that many athletes have worked for a long time to participate in the Olympics. that is why we are asking for the Olympics to be moved to another country so athletes aren't harmed).

Please sign up to host an event on our webpage and keep an eye on our webpage to see what events are already happening so you can join.

We are also requesting donations to help us fund this and more actions. If you are able to donate, please do so generously here. Or, you can host a fundraiser after your demonstration/event on October 6th. Action is always more important than money, but we are urgently short on funds and would appreciate your financial support in addition to your action.

Sign up today and keep the monks in your prayers,

Aung Din, Jeremy Woodrum, Jennifer Quigley, and Thelma Young

Burma in Crisis: 1988 Part 2

In response to international outcry, Myanmar's Foreign Minister Nyan Win addressed the UN General Assembly last Monday, blaming foreign powers for inciting the protests which led to the bloody crackdown. While the official state death count is 10, according to dissidents, the military regime’s violent response to the demonstrations has led to over 200 deaths and more than 6,000 arrests. Some estimates are much higher, with reliable sources reporting of massacring of students and monks. Hla Win, a mid-ranking major and former intelligence officer, is the most senior official to defect so far, exclaiming, “Many more people have been killed in recent days than you’ve heard about. The bodies can be counted in several thousand.” He fled to Thailand after refusing orders to raid two monasteries, kill the monks, and dump their corpses deep in the jungle.

Nyan Win dismissed accusations of excessive violence, brazenly stating that Myanmar is a victim of neocolonialism, which hampers the self-chosen democratization process of Burma. He called the current situation in Burma a return to “normalcy.”

However, 45 years of dictatorship and the junta’s exclusion of the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), from participating in drafting a new constitution in the National Convention underscore that Burma is nowhere near attaining democracy or national reconciliation. In fact, according to the most recent Worldwide Governance Indicators report, Myanmar’s junta, officially titled the State Peace and Development Council, has been ranked the worst government in the world according to the amount of freedom citizens have to voice opinions and select a government, receiving a score of “zero.” The country is a political, social, and economic mess. In 1960, Burma was the largest rice exporter in the world. Now, 40% of children in Burma are malnourished. Poverty reigns as 90% of the populace makes less than $1 a day. The government spends 2% of its budget on health care and 50% of the national GDP on its military. The education system is in ruins. There are more than 1,600 political prisoners, including 38 elected members of parliament and the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for 12 of the last 18 years.

The protests did not stem only from last month’s draconian fuel increases, but decades of repression, human rights abuses, corruption, and civil war. The military never had the popular mandate to rule and refused to recognize the results of the 1990 general election—Burma’s first and only free election—when the NLD won 82% of the parliamentary seats. To suppress ethnic rebels and political dissidents, the junta has destroyed over 3,000 villages (twice the number of villages destroyed in Darfur) in Eastern Burma and has carried out a campaign of rape, wrongful imprisonment, extrajudicial killings, forced labor, forced relocation, and torture. As a result, there are 2 to 4 million internally displaced peoples within Burma, and more than 1 million refugees in neighboring Thailand and Bangladesh.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has conceded that although UN special envoy to Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari exerted the maximum amount of diplomatic pressure possible during his recent four day trip to Burma, the trip was “not a success” . The day after Gambari left, the junta continued to defy international opinion, engaging in a new round of brutal nighttime arrests. Furthermore, amid the recent massacres of students and monks, raiding of monasteries, beatings, and arrests, there are now unconfirmed reports of the junta burning protestors--dead and alive. UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar Paulo Sergio Pinheiro has called the deteriorating situation “an emergency” and urged for diplomacy to bring calm to the country of 47 million.

Nations are increasingly rallying behind Burma’s democracy movement. But a schism between freedom supporting nations and countries with vested commercial interests in Burma will be the most difficult hurdle for the people of Burma to conquer. While the US, EU, Canada, Australia, and Japan have all imposed sanctions, cut diplomatic ties, and or drastically reduced aid to Myanmar, China, India, Russia, and Thailand continue to diplomatically and financially support the SPDC.

Burma is a country rich in natural resources, and its abundant oil and gas deposits, mineral resources, and hydropower potential prove too tempting to resist for many multinational companies, mostly notably American oil giant Chevron and France’s Total SA. Some of the more infamous projects include the Shwe Gas Project, the Yadana Pipeline, and the Salween dams, but few multinationals consider the effects that the development projects will have on the local people. Theses resources are called “conflict resources”, as their harvesting has been linked with forced labor, relocations, and numerous other human rights abuses. Investment and profits line the pockets of the military, allowing them to continuing purchasing arms and military hardware from China, Russia, India, and South Korea.

According to BP PLC’s World Review of Statistics, in 2006, Burma's proven gas reserves alone were 19 trillion cubic feet. If current production rates are maintained, at Thailand’s contract price, the deposits will give the military nearly $2 billion a year in sales over the next 40 years.

At the end of last month, while demonstrations were reaching a head, India’s Oil Minister Murli Deora was in Yangon signing oil and gas exploration contracts on behalf of state-owned ONGC Videsh Ltd.

Last January, China and Russia used their UN Security Council veto powers to defeat what would have been the first UN Resolution on Burma, claiming that the situation in Burma is an internal matter and does not threaten international peace and security. However, they discounted the effects of Burmese-based insurgents on India, refugees surging into Thailand and Bangladesh, and the universally acknowledged fact of the complicity of Burma’s junta in the international heroin trade.

While the Chinese Foreign Ministry has called on the military junta for restraint in dealing with the protests, China has come under fire by refusing to condemn Myanmar and for ruling out sanctions. As Myanmar’s largest diplomatic, financial, and military supporter, the Asian superpower can to use its clout to bring about change. But unless it can engineer a bloodless coup, inaction is likely. China is in a particularly compromising position, as, with the Olympics less than a year away, the CCP is trying to clean up its image. China already has to deal with allegations of persecuting Falun Gong practitioners and ethnic minorities, not to mention controversially supporting abusive and unpopular regimes such as Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge and President Omar al-Bashir’s government in Khartoum. China cannot afford to be perceived by the international community as supportive of a 1988 or Tiananmen style crackdown in Burma, should one occur.

The UN Human Rights Council has condemned the SPDC, but the international community must do more to bring about social change in Burma, where citizens have been suffering under the yoke of tyranny for close to five decades. UN ineffectiveness, China’s unflinching support of the junta, and irresponsible investing practices are to blame. The warning signs of additional casualties are there. The question is, will the UN act or will this be a repeat of August 8, 1988, or worse? October 5 signals the National Campus Day of Action for Burma, and October 6 is the Global Day of Action. On these days, the global community must stand in solidarity with the monks and civilians who are so painfully suffering. The free and democratic Burma that Aung San envisioned in the 1940’s can be achieved, but only if people within and outside Burma rally together.

China's Support of Burma's Oppressive Military Junta

This is not an ad, this is a plea for humanity. Ever since I saw Burmese migrant worker shantytowns in Thailand and the grinding poverty in Burma 2 years ago, the situation in Burma is currently deteriorating. I have cut and pasted information on US Campaign for Burma's latest campaign. Please read.


FACTS ABOUT CHINA'S RELATIONSHIP WITH BURMA'S MILITARY REGIME


We are writing to you to launch a new campaign effort -- something we have never done before. As many of you know, for the past four years we have worked to try and get the United Nations to broker peaceful talks in Burma between Burma's military regime, the democracy movement led by Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi, and Burma's ethnic groups. Since the UN Secretary General's efforts have so far failed, we worked on an effort to get the UN Security Council to address the situation in Burma.


- The United Nations General Assembly has smartly endorsed this approach, believing that only through negotiations can change come to Burma.


- The UN Secretary General is calling for the release, of Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners in Burma.


- Additionally, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations -- or ASEAN -- is calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners in Burma


We know that the UN Secretary General and ASEAN have not done enough -- they can do a lot more and we believe they have made some mistakes. Our new campaign is not designed in any way to absolve them of their responsibilities under the UN Charter.


However, the primary obstacle making United Nations' efforts on Burma difficult is one country: China. China has repeatedly undermined the UN Secretary General, the UN system, and ASEAN by refusing to back the call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners in Burma. China has also refused to call for peaceful tri-partite dialogue in Burma, again undermining UN efforts.


Providing billions for Burma's regime


Economically, China is exploiting the situation by signing deals left and right that essentially steal the natural resources of Burma out from under the Burmese people. According to the Shwe Gas Movement, China's new gas deal with the military regime is worth a staggering $40 billion dollars.


Selling billions in military arms


Militarily, China has sold billions in arms to Burma's military regime. These sales include tanks and armored personnel carriers, jet attack aircraft, small arms and light weapons, logistical and transportation equipment, and coastal patrol ships. These arms sales continue to this day.


Unilaterally blocking all UN and regional diplomatic efforts


Diplomatically, China is undermining diplomatic efforts by ASEAN and the United Nations. Three diplomatic missions to Burma to secure the release of Aung San Suu Kyi by leading Southeast Asian senior statesmen Indonesian Ali Alatas, Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid, and Filippino Foreign Minister Alberto Romulo all failed, mainly because China did not endorse these efforts. China went even further to protect the Burmese military regime by vetoing the one and only United Nations Security Council resolution on Burma. The resolution would have given the power the UN Secretary General that he needs to effectively negotiate with the military regime in Burma. China completely blocked it.


In addition to China's neighbors in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations: the European Union, the United States, Japan, Australia, 14 United Nations Special Rapportuers, One Dozen Nobel Peace Prize recipients, and 59 former Presidents and Prime Ministers from around the world have called for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.


China has the leverage to support change in Burma


Yet, despite this overwhelming support for Burma's military regime, human rights activists and Burmese people around the world have never once organized a concerted campaign to pressure China to make modifications to its policy on Burma. That is because Burmese people don't want to see Chinas an enemy but as a friend. But China doesn't seem to be listening. Even though the National League for Democracy, 88 Generation Students, and others inside Burma have NEVER ONCE CRITICIZED CHINA's POLICY ON BURMA, China doesn't seem to care. They just continue to ignore the goodwill of Burma's democracy movement and ethnic minorities while undermining each and every international diplomatic effort.


It's time for all of us to say "enough is enough". The simple and undeniable fact is that if China tells the Burmese military regime it must participate in negotiations -- as the UN has repeatedly called for -- the regime will have no choice but to say yes. China does have the leverage -- they just haven't used it at all.

If this were a simple matter of negotiating or not, China's position would be understandable. But the situation in Burma is much much different and extremely grave. The military regime has destroyed 3,000 villages in eastern Burma (twice as many as in Darfur, Sudan) and continues its scorched earth campaign to this day. Mothers, children, and innocent civilians are being slaughtered or forced from their homes. The regime has recruited more child soldiers than any other country in the world. The regime's soldiers are raping innocent women as a war tactic. Over 1,200 political prisoners remain behind bars. Just as the UN was paralyzed and acted far too late on Rwanda, Sudan, and elsewhere, now China is paralyzing the UN into action on Burma.

We urge you to join with us in launching a new, organized, high-level campaign to convince China to modify its policy on Burma. Specifically, we want them to:


1) Stop undermining the UN Secretary General and call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners in Burma


2) Insist publicly that Burma's military regime participate in tri-partite dialogue with Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy and Burma's ethnic groups.


3) Stop blocking the UN Security Council from doing its job -- by publicly indicating China will no longer veto peaceful, nonviolent UN Security Council resolutions.

As a very first step, we are asking you to join with us in organizing demonstrations around the world at embassies and consulates of China's government. There are people interested in Burma and human rights all over the world, so lets do this at as many embassies as possible. We are organizing this action on September 18th because it is the anniversary of the take-over of Burma's military regime in 1988. At that time, Burma's regime was solely responsible for the atrocities it inflicted on its own people. Now, however, the responsibility has become China's as well. By blocking every single peaceful avenue toward change, the blood of Burma's regime is also on China's hands.


This is just the first step. There are going to be many more actions and ways for you to join in the campaign.


Please write to us at: info@uscampaignforburma.org if you can organize a demonstration in front of the Chinese embassy or consulate in your city/country on September 18th. We will keep a list of all actions and help you with media attention for that day. It's just ludicrous that they've gotten away with their indefensible, unilateral position for so long and it's time to call them to account.


Support 1991 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi and the struggle for freedom and democracy in Burma.