8/8/08 for Burma

The military dictatorship that rules Burma, led by Senior General Than Shwe, is responsible for massive human rights abuses, violent political repression, the destruction of Burma’s health and education infrastructure, and the dire impoverishment of Burma’s people. China is not only an immediate neighbor of Burma’s, it is the biggest supporter of Burma’s military dictators - economically, militarily, and politically. China is also, however, host of the 2008 Olympics, which are supposed to stand for human dignity, brotherhood, and peace. 8-8-08 for Burma calls 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.

Than Shwe’s regime wants to control over all of Burma’s resources and people, and to destroy all resistance to military rule. Thousands of Democracy activists have been killed and jailed. Ethnic minorities are targeted in military campaigns jointly aimed at ethnic cleansing and securing military control over these areas’ natural resources.

The list of abuses, atrocities and crimes perpetrated by Than Shwe’s regime include:

• torture
• military rape
• mass killings
• forced labor
• 70,000 child soldiers
• landmines and free-fire zones
• forced relocation & displacement (over 3,200 villages destroyed)
• 1 million refugees, 1.5 million internally displaced in eastern Burma, & 2.4 million displaced by Cyclone Nargis
• 1,800 political prisoners (including Nobe Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi)

China has consistently and unapologetically supported Than Shwe’s military regime in Burma through investment, trade, loans, and arms sales. China has also obstructed efforts to condemn or bring pressure to bear on the Than Shwe regime. Instead, it has supported the regime’s ‘7-Step Roadmap to Democracy,’ which included a May 10, 2008 referendum on a sham constitution - in the middle of the humanitarian crisis brought on by Cyclone Nargis.

• China is one of Burma’s largest trading partners - $1.21 billion total trade volume in 2005
• China is one of Burma’s largest investors - $2.1 billion invested by Chinese corporations, including state-owned entities
• Beijing’s leaders have given hundreds of millions in soft loans and economic assistance to Than Shwe’s regime
• China has sold over $2 billion in weapons and military equipment to Burma

Because of its vast economic relationship with Burma and its growing power in the region, China holds unequaled influence with Than Shwe’s regime. China should do all it can to use its influence to get the people of Burma the aid, development, and freedoms they so desperately need.

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 in our 2 July 2008 paper, Sinking: China’s Soft Diplomacy on Burma..

Read more and download the report

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…

On May 2, 2008, a Class IV cyclone named Nargis hit Burma, battering Burma’s main rice-growing region, the Irrawaddy Delta. After the storm, an area equivalent in size to the entire state of New Jersey was under water.

The death toll climbed from 400 people at first to over 100,000. As Burma’s military regime blocked international aid, agencies speculated that the final death count would exceed 1 million people because of disease and starvation.