ninme

Telegraph - Burmese military crackdown condemned

Gordon Brown warned the regime that the “whole world is watching Burma”…

Alexander Downer, Australian foreign minister, said he would not be following George W Bush’s announcement of further sanctions against Burma, saying they “would have absolutely no impact”.

He said China was the only country with a hope of convincing Burma’s rulers to speed up moves towards political reform.

Earlier this week a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman tempered pledges by other officials to stay out of Burma’s affairs with an appeal for calm.

Western officials and diplomats have said they have detected a slight shift from China’s traditional policy of non-interference, which is based on a fear that the Security Council might try and impede on its rule in Tibet and the Muslim region Xinjiang.

Bernard Kouchner, the French foreign minister, said yesterday that China’s attitude appeared “to be evolving”.

“I discussed the situation with Chinese foreign minister. China’s attitude is rather new. It signals its concern. Burmese generals care little about world attention and compassion. What we need now is political pressure from countries of the region,” he said on the sidelines of the UN general assembly.

Criticism from foreign governments and international activist groups has already caused Beijing to restrict its lending to Zimbabwe and put pressure on Sudan to accept a UN peacekeeping force for Darfur.

The Chinese may not want to be seen as protecting another dictatorial and brutal regime. Although they are unlikely to exert public pressure on Burma, Western nations are hoping they will take up the cause behind the scenes.

Hmm.