昂山素季公开露面向示威僧侣致意
缅甸僧侣继续举行抗议游行
一直被软禁在家的缅甸反对派领袖昂山素季周六(9月22日)公开露面,向连日来举行抗议示威的僧侣致意。
这是昂山素季软禁四年来首次在公开场合露面。
目击者说,她从自己的家中走出来,观看近两千名僧人游行经过,并且显得热泪盈眶。
目击者说,昂山素季四周全是保安,但她仍然向示威人群挥手,并与僧人一道祈祷。
昂山素季18年来监禁时间长达11年。
软弱
上星期,缅甸几个大城市都爆发了反对军政府的抗议活动,有近万名僧人参加了示威。这是过去20年来缅甸发生的规模最大的抗议活动。
昨天,示威领袖誓言一直要把抗议或动进行到军政府垮台为止。
星期六,至少有1000名僧侣在缅甸首都游行,近2千人在曼德勒游行。
其他一些城市也有规模不同的抗议活动。但迄今为止,仍未见任何发生暴力冲突的报道。
BBC南亚事务记者海德说,缅甸领导人不愿意与公众普遍尊重的僧侣强硬对阵,担心会惹起民愤。
但问题是,抗议者游行的时间拉得越长,缅甸政府就显得越软弱。
星期五,"缅甸佛教僧侣联盟"发表声明,直指军政府是"人民公敌",呼吁举行和平示威,直至清除军事独裁。
- Re: 昂山素季公开露面向示威僧侣致意(BBC)posted on 09/22/2007
美女孤身被囚,和尚聚众抗议。21世纪真有趣。 - Re: 昂山素季公开露面向示威僧侣致意(BBC)posted on 09/24/2007
她居然还能出来露面?放在中国早就转移她到别地了。
看看中国的和尚都在做什么! - Re: 昂山素季公开露面向示威僧侣致意(BBC)posted on 09/24/2007
阿慧MM请给我扔个Email好吗? maya.cafe@yahoo.com - posted on 09/25/2007
China's Exerts Critical Influence on Myanmar
Associated Press
China has gently urged Myanmar's military rulers to ease the strife that has seen tens of thousands take to the streets in protest, diplomats said Tuesday, even as Beijing said publicly it would stick to a hands-off approach toward its neighbor.
China has quietly shifted gears, the diplomats said, jettisoning its noninterventionist line for behind-the-scenes diplomacy. A senior Chinese official asked junta envoys this month to reconcile with opposition democratic forces. And China arranged a low-key meeting in Beijing between Myanmar and State Department envoys to discuss the release of the leading opposition figure.
For a country that has been Myanmar's staunchest diplomatic protector, largest trading partner and a leading investor, the shift is crucial. Asian and Western diplomats in Beijing and Southeast Asia said China's influence in Myanmar is second to none and could be decisive in restraining the junta from a violent confrontation with protesters.
"China has been working to convey the concerns of the international community to the Burmese government," a Western diplomat in Beijing said on condition of anonymity, citing policy. "But it could definitely do more to apply pressure."
Diplomats and experts cautioned that China's communist leaders may not be willing to push harder. Myanmar's junta has resisted Western economic sanctions and appeals from Southeast Asian neighbors and the United Nations. China has deftly filled the diplomatic and economic vacuum, eyeing Myanmar as a strategic path to the Indian Ocean, investing in its teak forests, gas and mineral fields and picking up an ally in the junta.
Myanmar has about 19 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves, only about 0.3 percent of the world's total reserves, according to BP's Statistical Review of World Energy at the end of 2006. Although Myanmar doesn't currently export gas to China, its supply could potentially help feed a rapidly growing Chinese economy hungry for energy.
State-run China National Offshore Oil Corp. has taken a stake in a Bay of Bengal gas field in Myanmar, while China National Petroleum Corp. is reportedly looking at building a pipeline network.
Myanmar "was a vassal state of China's for centuries, and it's fast reverting to that status," said Sean Turnell, an economist and expert on the country at Australia's Macquarie University.
Beijing protected Myanmar, also known as Burma, from scrutiny and sanction in the U.N. Security Council earlier this year. On Tuesday, two officials — one from the Communist Party's international affairs office, the other from the Foreign Ministry — said China would stay out of Myanmar's affairs.
But Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu tempered the pledge with an appeal for calm. "We hope Myanmar and its people will take proper actions to resolve the issue," Jiang told reporters in Beijing.
China's political and economic interests in Myanmar are spurring it to act, diplomats and experts said. With an Olympics in Beijing next year already bringing China heightened scrutiny, Chinese leaders are likely loath to be associated with another repressive, unpopular regime.
Criticism from foreign governments and international activist groups already have caused Beijing to pare back lending to Zimbabwe and put pressure on Sudan to accept a U.N. peacekeeping force for Darfur.
Democracy campaigners in Myanmar took note of the success of the Darfur activists, who warned the games would be tarnished as the "Genocide Olympics" if Beijing did not act, said Phelim Kyne, a Hong Kong-based researcher with Human Rights Watch.
"China has made some significant concessions recently on its links to Sudan, but it hasn't gone that far on its links with Burma," said Kyne. "If things heat up on the border, that's not going to look good for China in the lead up to the Olympics at all."
Beijing's dual approach — saying one thing in public while waging quiet diplomacy — has also characterized its policy shifts on Sudan and in persuading North Korea to join disarmament negotiations, the diplomats said.
In June, Beijing hosted two days of talks between junta envoys and U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Eric John. The State Department and U.S. Embassy declined to disclose details. Diplomats from other Western embassies said among the topics was relaxing house arrest for Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Myanmar's democratic opposition.
As protests against the junta began gathering momentum, the Chinese government's senior diplomat told visiting Myanmar leaders to seek a peaceful resolution.
"China, as a friendly neighbor of Myanmar, sincerely hoped Myanmar would restore internal stability as soon as possible, properly handle issues and actively promote national reconciliation," China's official Xinhua News Agency paraphrased State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan as telling junta leader Gen. Than Shwe and Foreign Affairs Minister U Nyan Win.
In May, Beijing telegraphed its frustration with Myanmar's rulers. The Foreign Ministry briefly posted on its Web site a critical account of the junta's decision to move the capital from Yangon to Naypyidaw, a remote site with a shoddy airport and no cell phone service.
China has a sizable presence in Myanmar, constructing dams and laying a road that is supposed to stretch from the Chinese border across Myanmar to its shore.
China became Myanmar's No. 1 trading partner in 2005, with trade heavily lopsided in China's favor topping $1.7 billion, according to Turnell. China's Commerce Ministry says the value rose 20 percent last year and jumped nearly 40 percent in the first seven months this year compared to the same period in 2006.
缅甸军政府保持克制缘于中国的巨大影响力(图)
DWNEWS.COM-- 2007年9月26日2:3:8(京港台时间) --多维新闻网
德国之声/缅甸发生大规模抗议游行活动,但是军政府却保持克制。有分析家指出,这是因为中国政府在背后施加影响。周一共有十万多群众走上街头抗议军政府。这是缅甸1988年民主运动被镇压之后最大规模的游行活动。国际分析家普遍认为,中国正在努力劝说缅甸的军队高官不要使用暴力。(chinesenewsnet.com)
周一的游行从仰光的大金塔开始,通过原先缅甸民主运动的聚集地大学校园,并经过了国防部大楼。参加游行的包括两万多名僧侣和被称为“比丘尼”的尼姑。而且观察家们首次在游行队伍中看到大学生。示威者要求军政府与反对派进行对话,并且释放所有政治犯。让人惊讶的是,缅甸军政府并没有干涉,这似乎与来自中国的压力有关。在1988年缅甸军队向示威者开枪之后,缅甸学生运动的领导人金奥马流亡泰国。(chinesenewsnet.com)
她分析说,中国对缅甸的政治局势发展起到了非常重要的作用,“中国在政治、经济和军事上对缅甸政府有着重要影响,扮演了重要角色。在东南亚地区,很多国家特别重视中国的意见。因此,缅甸军政府对中国的意见会加以深思熟虑。中国要是对事件有所表态,缅甸会反复权衡。如果中国认为不应该动用暴力,那么,缅甸政府可能会放弃武装镇压的手段。”(chinesenewsnet.com)
一位在东南亚的资深外交官分析说,每个人都知道中国是缅甸军政府的最大的支持者。北京不希望在明年奥运会开幕之前,发生地区动荡。如果缅甸政府采用暴力,将会损害中国的国际形象,因为中国是缅甸石油和天然气的最大买家,并且在今年阻挠联合国安理会通过一项谴责缅甸人权状况的决议。(chinesenewsnet.com)
德国外交部的智囊、科学与政治基金会的东南亚问题专家塞巴斯蒂安·贝尔希克认为,缅甸的和平抗议活动仍然可能遭到军政府的暴力镇压。他呼吁中国利用对缅甸的影响力,却说政府摒弃暴力。贝尔希克说,如果缅甸政治局势出现动荡,而且在中国的家门口,不符合中国本身的利益。(chinesenewsnet.com)
更何况,继朝核危机之后,缅甸时间还可以改善中国政府在处理国际危机时的形象,提高本国的国际地位。流亡泰国的缅甸民主人士金奥马说:“中国应该明确表示,不能使用暴力,并呼吁各方通过对话,排除意见分歧,实现国家团结,不论是军政府还是民主派人士也好。这是唯一可能的解决方案。现在缅甸急需这样的方案。”(chinesenewsnet.com)
不干涉内政虽然是中国长期以来的外交政策,但是目前有迹象显示中国试图对缅甸施加影响。美国第一夫人劳拉·布什在接受《华尔街时报》采访时表示,中国有能力也应该在类似苏丹和缅甸等国际问题上发挥积极的作用。
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