Throughout the Asian continent protests and demonstrations against the military junta have been held. Almost all of the governments have asked the junta led by Than Shwe to halt the massacre of the civilian population. Only Beijing remains a part, instead asking “both sides” to “quieten the tones” of the protests.

Rome (AsiaNews) – Protests, demonstrations, demands for international intervention and full support for the people of Burma.  Governments and citizens across Asia, with the exception of China, have thrown their full support behind the protests led by Buddhist monks and have roundly condemned the bloody reaction of the military junta led by Than Shwe.

 

The loudest and most heartfelt protest is without doubt, that led by young Burmese resident in Thailand, who meet every day in front of the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok in protest.  Thad Ong, a 21 year old Catholic told AsiaNews: “My two younger sisters and I participate every single day.  Many demonstrators are university students : the Burmese who work here are afraid, they fear deportation”.

 

The young man is originally from the northern Maehongsorn province, a two hour drive from the Thai border: “We belong to the Karen minority. All of the people in Burma see the open injustices of the military junta, which has lasted for decades.  They have become richer while the people grow poorer and poorer”.

 

Panithan  Wattanyakorn, Professor of International Relations and Social Sciences at Chulalongkorn University Thailand, explains: “Burma’s population is made up of a total of 135 tribes and 8 ethnic groups, over 87% of the total are Buddhists.  When the official of the state harmed the monks, it meant all the Buddhists were injured in their hearts.  The point is the present crisis might be a sign of new seed for”.

 

South Korea’s protests are well organised thanks to the contribution of many non governmental organisations and Catholic groups who have launched a petition in support of the Burmese people to be presented to the United Nations. The focal point of their protests is Gwangju, from where the 1988 popular revolt starter which led to the downfall of the South Korean military dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan.

 

Lee Su-man, president of a Catholic group tells AsiaNews: “The situation in Myanmar is identical to what happened in South Korea.  I know that the junta opened fire on the people protesting, and if I could I would go to Myanmar to offer all my help to those people who are fighting for democracy”.

 

Sympathy for Myanmar also ran deep in the Philippines, protesters said, because people recalled years of martial law under former Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos and the silent marches of the monks were compared to the clicking of rosary beads by the people lead by the late Card. Sin against the regime and its anti – democratic laws.

 

 

In Jakarta, around 50 Indonesian foreign ministry officials, dressed in red shirts, observed a period of silence to express solidarity with Myanmar's pro-democracy protestors.

"We pray that the people of Myanmar will enjoy peace," said Umar Hadi, the ministry's director of public diplomacy. About 20 people also rallied outside the Myanmar embassy, staging a theatrical act depicting soldiers attacking demonstrators, including monks.

 

In India, a great commercial partner of the Burmese junta, Myanmar refugees, including children and monks, staged a protest rally in the heart of the capital and asked for India's intervention.

Carrying posters of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and banners reading "Down with military regime," the group of around 100 protestors shouted slogans against military rule.

 

 

In Malaysia, about 3,000 refugees, migrant workers and activists dressed in red marched to the Myanmar embassy to hand over a memorandum urging the military rulers to settle the current crisis in the country.  The government confirmed the group did not have a permit to organise the demonstration, but as long as it was peaceful, they were allowed to carry on with the march”.

 

Cambodia's main opposition leader Sam Rainsy led about 100 activists in a demonstration against the Myanmar regime's handling of recent protests, dressed in red, they asked the government to intervene against “the Burmese slaughter”.  The minister for Information in Phnom Phen, Khieu Kanharith, “condemned Than Shwe’s reaction to the population’s peaceful protest”.

 

Singapore’s governor expressed “pain and sorrow” at the bloody handling of the protests, while Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian issued a statement expressing "strong regret and condemnation" of the crackdown as around 30 democracy activists.

 

China alone remains, Myanmar’s historic commercial partner and “protector” has limited itself to asking that both “sides”, the army and the civilians, quieten tones and avoid all gestures that can undermine “Myanmar’s stability and progress”.

 

• MYANMAR
• ASIA
• CHINA
• INDIA
• THAILAND
• INDONESIA
• TAIWAN
• CAMBODIA
• PROTEST