Call for int'l pressure on Burmese junta

Experts: China, India and Asean need to act

China, India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) _ not the United Nations or the United States _ are the only influential players in efforts to bring about much needed change in Burma, said Chulalongkorn University's senior researcher Pornpimon Trichot.

However, it is the abundant resources in Burma that cripple the world community's action against the repressive regime, she said.

The researcher urged these countries to reimagine and redefine their economic and political interests and stop dealing with the junta.

She believed the junta does not care much about the US or UN sanctions, although in the longer term international players including the European Union will have to change some tactics, since Burma relies heavily on potential and already-existing investments from China, India, South Korea and Russia, as well as from some Asean countries.

China's leverage in Burma lies substantially in the energy sector, she added.

China has invested in natural gas and oil pipelines, some 2,380km long, from Sittwe in the Bay of Bengal-based Arakan province to Kunming in China to avoid the jammed Straits of Malacca channel, Ms Pornpimon said.

Taweewong Seriburi, of Chulalongkorn University's Institute of Environmental Research, said Burma's massive potential in energy production has drawn several countries, including China, India, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand to explore and make deals with the junta.

But real investment has not yet taken shape and power grids and pipelines have yet to be built, said Mr Taweewong, adding that the potential is as high as 108,000 megawatts but the current output is as low as only a few thousand megawatts.

Meanwhile, Asia-based human rights organisations have appealed to all Asian governments, particularly the Asian members of the Human Rights Council (HRC) who are due to meet in Geneva, Switzerland, for a special session on Burma today and tomorrow.

They also sent two Burmese human rights activists to Geneva to lobby and speak at the special session to help ensure the HRC will come up with an adequate resolution.

The London-based Amnesty International yesterday urged the UN Security Council to immediately impose a comprehensive and mandatory arms embargo on Burma.

In Bangkok, members of the Network of Buddhist Organisations of Thailand rallied and prayed in front of the Burmese embassy, appealing to the Burmese junta to halt its violent suppression of monks and other pro-democracy protesters.