8/8/08 for Burma

8-8-08 for Burma and our work were featured in the following news articles and other media in 2008:

17 August 2008, “Burma’s ‘Blood Jade’ Used in Olympic Medals?”
The Epoch Times

15 August 2008, “Beijing Olympics: China Using Myanmar ‘Blood Jade’?”
Merrinews

8 August 2008, “2008 Olympics Fuels Burma’s Oppressive Jade Trade”
“The New Security Beat” blog, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

7 August 2008 BURMA/CHINA: Avoid ‘Blood Jade’ Olympic Souvenirs - Activists”
Inter Press Service/Brunei Times/Human Rights Tribune

6 August 2008 “Activists urge Burmese jade boycott in Beijing”
Democratic Voice of Burma

5 August 2008 “Call for boycott of ‘blood jade’ at the Olympics”
MerriNews

4 August 2008 “Activists urge visitors to China to boycott jade from Burma”
Kachin News Group

4 August 2008, “Activists urge people to boycott Burmese “Blood Jade” in Beijing Olympic”
Shan Herald Agency for News

4 August, 2008, “Activists Urge Olympic Boycott of Chinese Jade”
The Irrawaddy Magazine

4 August, 2008, “Boycott buying blood-Jade from Burma: Campaigners”
Mizzima

4 August, 2008, ” Groups call for boycott of Myanmar’s jade at Beijing Olympics”
Deutsche Presse Agentur

4 August, 2008, “Landslide in Phakant kills 20 people”
Mizzima

9 July, 2008 “Report Slams Beijing’s Burma Policy”
The Irrawaddy Magazine

2 July, 2008 “Sinking: China’s Soft Diplomacy on Burma”
8-8-08 for Burma Press Release

19 April, 2008 “Radio Nation with Laura Flanders” with Cristina Moon, 8-8-08 for Burma’s Executive Director
Air America

Team Burma events were held around the world as the Olympics took place in Beijing (August 8-24, 2008). Event hosts were given everything needed to host a successful event, including a start-to-finish guide and materials.

Watch a video of 8-8-08 for Burma activities on 8 August, 2008

The medals of the Beijing Games - inlaid for the first time in Olympic history with jade - are a reminder of China’s deep and complex relationship with the military regime that rules neighboring Burma, including its jade mines.

Blood Jade: Burmese Gemstones & the Beijing Games, a joint report by the All Kachin Students & Youth Union and 8-8-08 for Burma, investigates Burma’s jade mining industry, fueled by Chinese demand, and calls on global consumers not to buy Burma’s blood jade - in Beijing and beyond.  Available in English and Mandarin.

Download “Blood Jade” and press materials…

In 2007 and 2008, the Chinese government made a number of assertions about its relationship and role in Burma, many of which were misleading or inaccurate. 8-8-08 for Burma provided a two-part analysis of Beijing’s statements.

The first part of the analysis addressed points publicly made by the Chinese government. The second addressed China’s response to the humanitarian disaster wrought on Burma’s southern delta region by Cyclone Nargis on May 2nd, 2008.

Download “Sinking” as a PDF

8-8-08 for Burma began in January 2008 to call on China to use its unique leverage to help save lives and build freedom in Burma, and thereby honor the spirit and principles of the Olympics.