The Asian Human Rights Commission extends its concerns to the Chinese people and the Chinese government at this moment of tragedy by way of the severe earthquake. After news of the heavy earthquake that hit heavily populated areas in Sichuan province, China on May 12, reached the world, Premier Wen Jiabao quickly referred to it as a “major disaster” and called for strong leadership in rescuing survivors and putting the city back together. There are now many reports of the intense national and indeed international effort underway towards this goal, and the quick and decisive response of the government of China is commendable.
It is obvious that the Chinese government has the will and the capacity to deal with this situation. However, there is another tragedy going on in Burma and the government is simply not in a position to deal with the magnitude of the crisis. What is worse is that the Burmese regime is obstructing the flow of assistance that is pouring in from many parts of the world. China, as a long term friend of Burma could persuade the Burmese authorities to act decisively at this as they themselves are doing for their own people. Lower Burma is now being dragged into the second week of a tragedy that both in terms of scale and response is becoming unprecedented in Asia during modern times. The numbers of victims from Cyclone Nargis are now estimated to exceed those of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which were spread throughout countries across the entire region, yet the military governments continued unconscionable obstruction of aid supplies and workers means that a second wave of deaths is now imminent.
Already there are reports of outbreaks of diarrhea and cholera, and deaths among children in the worst affected areas. Under the current conditions, in which people continue to be surviving in the open or in crowded schools and monasteries with no safe drinking water and little food or medicine, these diseases will spread quickly. They may also pass beyond the immediate victims of the cyclone into areas that were originally less affected, especially places like Bassein, the capital of Irrawaddy Division, where thousands of refugees have been relocated with little attention to their circumstances once there.
Under these circumstances China can do more to press the military into allowing the international aid backing up on its doorstep to reach the people. Although spokespersons for China have reportedly said that it has urged the regime to cooperate with the rest of the world, apparently this urging has not been strong enough. Were it so, it would surely have had more effect than has been seen so far. The government in Burma cannot afford to ignore such urging, if persistent and unequivocal, because it cannot survive without Chinas backing.
Among those pointing to Chinas lack of activity on Cyclone Nargis, some have suggested that it is because its government acts only in its own interests. This argument doesnt get very far. Every government acts in its own interests, and clearly, there are sufficient interests in this case for China to push Burma harder. It is in Chinas interests to avert a famine and epidemic disease in a neighbouring country. It is in Chinas interests, particularly in this year of the Beijing Olympics, to see that a closely allied government does not become utterly repugnant to the global community. And it is in Chinas interests to see that regional stability is maintained by avoiding a collapse of Burmas economy.
The government of China is right to say that this is not a political issue but a humanitarian one. However, the humanitarian issue is today being held hostage by political intransigence and Chinas role is greatly needed to rescue the one from the other. The Asian Human Rights Commission thus calls upon the government of China to do all that it can to see that the military regime in Burma accepts foreign assistance, both material and technical, without any further delay, and thereby stop more and more people around the world from asking why it has not done more. The kind of strong leadership and unequivocal response called for in meeting the humanitarian needs of its own people must be extended to its neighbour.
