• 
• 

Published on September 27, 2007

Governments of countries around the world have reacted strongly to the violent crackdown by the military government in Burma against peaceful protesters led by thousands of Buddhist monks. The international community has warned the repressive regime it will be held to account for the bloodshed. Perhaps the strongest warning came from British prime minister Gordon Brown, who called the junta an "illegitimate and repressive regime", and added that "the age of impunity in neglecting and overriding human rights is over".

Thailand, along with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), China and India - countries located next to Burma or in close proximity, which have deep political, economic and military ties with that country - stayed tongue-tied and sat on their hands. Meanwhile, the Burmese security forces began spilling blood in an attempt to again trample on the democratic aspirations of the Burmese people. These countries should hang their heads in shame.

Certainly we cannot blame countries with no democratic tradition and which suppress their own citizens' freedoms, liberties and human rights for doing nothing about the escalating state-sponsored violence in Burma; violence that is perpetrated against its own citizens.

Even if China is undemocratic, as a rising global power - which also happens to wield the greatest influence over Burma's brutal regime - it has the responsibility to show moral leadership. It has a duty to do all it can to prevent unnecessary loss of life. Surely, protecting and continuing to protect the pariah regime is incompatible with Beijing's effort to take pride of place among members of the civilised world. Indeed, Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer was right to say that China was the only country with any hope of convincing Burma's rulers to speed up moves towards political reform.

If the Burmese junta is going to listen to any countries, it will be those with which it has close military and economic ties. Now is the time for these countries to step out of their comfort zones to show that they care about the dignity and welfare of the Burmese people. Japan, the largest donor to the Burmese military regime, needs to pull its trump card - investment and aid money - to affect change in the trouble-plagued country.

But countries like India, the world's biggest democracy, Indonesia, and other democratic members of Asean - including aspiring democracies like Thailand - should do something more meaningful than simply urge Burma to exercise restraint. All can do a lot more. They must tell Burma's generals in no uncertain terms they cannot butcher pro-democracy protesters the way they did in the past and expect the world to sit idly by. More than 3,000 pro-democracy protesters were killed in a 1988 bloodbath in Rangoon and other cities in Burma.

Such moral cowardice is inexcusable. It is shameful that, within Asean in particular, there exists a policy of inaction that is cloaked in euphemisms such as "good neighbourliness" and non-interference in other country's domestic affairs. The UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon came up far short of expectation when he praised the peaceful nature of the protests and voiced his hopes the Burmese military would "seize this opportunity to engage without delay in dialogue with all the relevant parties in the national reconciliation process."

Fortunately for the world and the Burmese people, there are other great democratic nations that actually believe in the universality of free aspirations and human rights, and which have the backbone to stand up for oppressed peoples everywhere. Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, US President George Bush said his government had tightened economic sanctions against Burma's regime and called on other nations to pile pressure on the military junta.

One does not have to agree with the US on its foreign policy. The US policy on Burma may not be the best or most effective measure to compel the military junta in Burma to implement reforms and restore democracy. But the US steadfastness on its Burma policy and its ban on American companies trading with Burma, or benefiting economically, while Burmese people continue to suffer is admirable.

As for Thailand, the least we can do, if the situation calls for it, is to provide the necessary humanitarian assistance to Burmese refugees fleeing from further clashes if and when they erupt.