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March to freedom?

Riot police attack monks

Why protest?

For those who are unfamiliar with the background behind the junta: they organised a election in the early 1990s, in which aung san suu ki won, but refused to recognise this...

Sadly this is not going to be enough. International pressure is necessary before the junta will get out. Sadly, few countries are willing to take the moral high ground (e.g. Singapore, as chair of ASEAN, should do something).


More info from economist.com

In the last pro-democracy protests on this scale, in 1988, it took several rounds of massacres before the demonstrations finally subsided, leaving the regime as strong as ever. By Thursday September 27th, with a crackdown under way, and the first deaths from clashes with security forces, it seemed hard to imagine that things would be very different this time.

Myanmar’s tragic recent history suggests that when an immovable junta meets unstoppable protests, much blood is spilled.

As in the past, the world’s initial response to the junta’s violence was marked by bickering and point-scoring. On September 27th, the United Nations Security Council met in response to pressure from the West for co-ordinated sanctions. But Russia and China argued that the unrest was an internal matter that should not be on the council’s agenda at all.

If any countries can sway the junta they are the regional ones: ASEAN, especially Thailand; India; and above all China. China has given the junta diplomatic support, helping for years to keep its behaviour off the agenda of the United Nations Security Council. But Myanmar is far from a client state.

As in 1988 and 1990 the Burmese people have shown they want to choose their own leaders. In the past they did not fully reckon on the ruthlessness of the people they were up against. One day, as with all tyrannies, Myanmar’s will fall. But much blood may flow before that day dawns.