THE GOVERNMENT of China has been striving to make certain that Aug. 8, 2008, the start of this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing, will be an auspicious date. The Communist authorities have even set the start of their gala for 8 p.m. on 8/8/08.
For the people of Burma, that same date has a grievous meaning. On the day Beijing stages its ultimate coming-out party, victims of the junta ruling Burma will commemorate the 20th anniversary of a popular uprising against military dictatorship that was violently suppressed. Leaders of that freedom movement, known as the 88 Student Generation, were among the first to be arrested when Buddhist monks led popular protests against the junta in September. They are among the 700 September protesters still incarcerated, joining more than 1,100 other political prisoners who were already suffering torture and abuse in junta prisons.
The numerological coincidence of China's Olympic gala and Burma's mournful memory will serve a positive purpose if it reminds the world of Burma's agony in the two decades since Aug. 8, 1988 - and of the shameful symbiosis between China's government and the Burmese junta. Beijing has been the principal arms seller and commercial partner of the narco-trafficking generals in Burma. In the United Nations Security Council, it is the threat of a Chinese veto that shields the junta from an international arms embargo.
The bosses of Beijing, who are trying to put on their best face between now and the '08 games, have to be happy that the International Olympic Committee has declined to make respect for human rights a criterion for hosting the games. But they cannot be happy that the other rising power in Asia, democratic India, has shown a decent respect for international opinion by halting arms sales and transfers to Burma's military dictators.
Until recently, India appeared to be competing with China to see which could be the bigger weapons peddler to the junta. But then something unusual happened. The Hindustan Times recently reported that India had stopped selling arms to Burma. Laura Bush, the president's wife, referred to India's arms cutoff during a videoconference observation of Human Rights Day on Dec. 10. And citing diplomatic sources, The
For unknown reasons, the Indian government has declined to acknowledge publicly its laudable act of solidarity with the people of Burma. Perhaps India, the birthplace of Buddhism, could not bear to go on selling weapons to uniformed thugs who were beating and killing Buddhist monks last fall. But India should be proud to be defending its cultural heritage by aligning itself with the freedom movement of Burma. Meanwhile, the world must see that when it comes to violations of human rights, Beijing's number is up.
