What's happening in Burma is amazing - all power to the Burmese People - but their chances of success are small. This uprising is comparable to the uprising in 1988 which was brutally suppressed with at least 3000 demonstrators shot dead. The monks and the people are showing great courage, but the mountain they have to climb is unimaginable to those of us on the outside.
There is a hugely important difference now compared to 1988. Burma is oblivious to most of the world, being heavily reliant on China and to a lesser extent India and Russia for trade. These are the only states which have a chance of influencing the outcome and realistically it is up to China; the emerging superpower that is opening up to the world and looking forward to the Olympics as its big coming out party. China does not want another Tiananmen Square by proxy
This is a powerful tool for campaigners. China is investing heavily and has powerful political influence in Africa, particularly Sudan, but appeared oblivious to Darfur until the slogan "Genocide Olympics" was used by campaigners; there is hope that China may be forced to act. We must bring this same pressure to bear on behalf of Burma; China is intervening behind the scenes and we must keep the pressure up.
Please, write to your MP asking for questions in the House or an Early Day Motion highlighting the impact on the Olympics if a massacre is allowed to happen. They Work for You! Write to the papers, get on their feedback forums, demand that they call for action by China; intervention to prevent a massacre and oust this evil regime once and for all, on the eve of the Beijing Olympics. Blog about it, talk about it - by whatever means necessary, we must demand that Burma is finally freed.
Please take a few moments to check out these online petitions (hosted at petitiononline.com):
Online petition started by UN human rights type people
Online petition from the Burmese people and friends
This must not be allowed to continue. If the international community had even a fraction of the courage of the Burmese People it would not.
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