China, Russia: No to Myanmar sanctions
China and Russia urged Myanmar`s military rulers to talk with the country`s opposition but said Wednesday that they opposed any U.N. sanctions against the junta.
The two veto-wielding countries on the U.N. Security Council say Myanmar`s crushing of pro-democracy protests led by Buddhist monks was an internal issue, a position that has prevented discussions of sanctions.
Foreign Ministers Yang Jiechi of China and Sergey Lavrov of Russia said at a meeting with India`s Pranab Mukherjee that, instead of punishment, they support efforts by U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, who was in China on Thursday talking to leaders about the issue, to open talks between the opposition and the ruling generals.
"The initiatives (Gambari) has taken, he should be encouraged," Mukherjee told reporters. "There should not be any sanctions at this stage."
Lavrov warned that sanctions, threats or other forms of pressure on the junta risked "aggravating the situation and generating a new crisis."
Yang echoed that, saying: "We hope that countries concerned will play a helping role instead of applying sanctions and applying pressure."
The junta has also agreed to allow Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the U.N.`s independent rights investigator on Myanmar, to visit the country next month for the first time since in four years. He said he`ll arrive on the heels of Gambari`s trip.
Pinheiro told reporters at the U.N. on Wednesday that he will demand access to prisons while in Myanmar, and that he`ll try to determine the number of people killed and detained by the military during the crackdown.
"My task is to offer an honest, complex, objective picture of ... the immediate origins of the crisis, the crisis itself, the excessive use of force," Pinheiro said.
Meanwhile, activists wearing white prison garb and masks held small protests in cities around the world to mark pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi`s 12 years in detention in Myanmar, also known as Burma.
"I`m very angry, governments around the world know that people in Burma suffer - and have been suffering for so long," refugee Zoya Phan, 26, said in London. "They know the regime is brutal, but they have done almost nothing to help the people in Burma."
The meeting of China, India and Russia is part of the revival of a loose 1950s alliance against U.S. dominance of global affairs. A joint statement said, however, that the countries` third recent forum "was not targeted against any other country or organization."
India and China want to secure energy supplies and natural resources that Russia has in abundance. In addition, India wants to promote its bid for a permanent veto-wielding seat on the Security Council. The joint statement said China and Russia "support India`s aspirations to play a greater role in the United Nations."
China is one of Myanmar`s leading trading partners and its communist government has frequent contacts with the junta and provides the military with much of its weaponry.
In Beijing, Gambari called on China to use its influence to help persuade the junta to stop its crackdown. Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister He Yafei told Gambari China backs his efforts, but made no new commitments.
Myanmar security forces crushed the recent wave of protests by shooting and beating demonstrators on Sept. 26-27. The regime said 10 people were killed, but dissident groups put the toll at up to 200 and say thousands of students, Buddhist monks and others were arrested. The crackdown ignited international outrage.
Myanmar state radio and television reported that a top leader of the ruling junta, Lt. Gen. Thein Sein, had been appointed prime minister.
Thein Sein had been serving as acting prime minister since May, filling in for ailing Gen. Soe Win, who died Oct. 12.
The prime minister`s job holds little independent power because the military controls the state through the junta, officially known as the State Peace and Development Council.
No change in policy is expected with the appointment, because policy is set by the top leaders of the junta, who - despite rumors of rivalries - act in concert, with no public disagreements.
The military regime alleged that "bogus" Buddhist monks connived with political activists they had previously met in prison to stage last month`s mass anti-government protests.
The allegations were made by Religious Affairs Minister Brig. Gen. Thura Myint Aung during a Wednesday meeting with senior monks in Yangon, and reported by state-run radio and television.
Buddhist monks enjoy high respect among the country`s population at large, and the violent suppression of their protests has seriously hurt the junta`s reputation.
To counter the bad impression, state media have been filled with stories suggesting that the monks taking part in the recent protests were a tiny minority and not properly religious, and reporting virtually daily on junta members visiting monasteries to make donations.
|
