What is the true face of the 2008 Olympic Host?

Myanmar has been misruled by incompetent leaders who have been indirectly enabled by China. According to many Burmese in exile, China is a “monster” who actually harms Asia’s democratic development.

The Myanmar issue can tell us a lot about what kind of global power China wants to be. The international community has been urging China to pressure Myanmar. However, in China, the media almost ignored the crisis. Indeed, it is ironic to persuade the Beijing authority to influence other countries on human rights grounds, due to its lack of respect for human rights and freedom of speech. Not to mention during the past decade, China’s main policy has been to pursue its own interests all over the world, including the acquisition of natural resources. As such, it certainly wants to stay away from the trouble taking place in Myanmar.

Western countries hope that the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games can be one point of pressure on China; nevertheless, their efforts appear to be futile. China did call for a peaceful resolution to Burma’s situation, but nothing more.

The truth is that Myanmar has been misruled by incompetent leaders who have been indirectly enabled by China. According to many Burmese in exile, China is a “monster” who actually harms Asia’s democratic development. For example, Chinese weapons sales to Myanmar helped consolidate the military regime and created a huge gap between the rich and the poor over there. In addition, China has rushed into tap Myanmar’s vast reserves of oil and natural gas; this has also propped up the authoritarian regime.

As Myanmar’s most important ally, China has come under increasing pressure to use its regional influence to urge Myanmar’s ruling junta to show restraint in dealing with the protests. The United States also wanted China to do what it can to prevent further bloodshed.

However, even after the violent crackdown on the protests took place in Myanmar, China still blocked the UN Security Council from condemning the government’s actions by claiming the problem at this stage has not yet constituted a threat to international and regional peace and stability.

But, is “stability”—as China emphasized—good for a country like Myanmar? What is China’s standpoint on democratic rights that those Burmese demonstrators are fighting for? Surely, how China responds to the current Myanmar crackdown will tell us more about this emerging global power.