China’s Olympics to start on the 20th anniversary of the 8888 Uprising in Burma

The 2008 Summer Olympics in China will kick off on August 8th. As it turns out, this will be the 20th anniversary of the crackdown by the Burmese military junta on that nation’s 1988 pro-democracy movement.

During 1988, Burmese people rose up to protest economic mismanagement and political repression. On 8/8/88, troops fired into protesting crowds killing and wounding many. From that date on, the movement was known as the 8888 Uprising. At least 3000 people died during the 1988 confrontations between soldiers and civilians.

Of course, this past summer and fall saw a replay of the events of 1988. A new pro-democracy movement rose up to challenge the military rule and was violently put down. The international community protested and then turned its attention elsewhere. The reign of terror continues as Burmese soldiers hunt down activists.

China has been has been the principal arms seller and commercial partner of the junta in Burma, and the threat of a Chinese veto in the UN Security Council shields the generals from an international arms embargo. The junta will change its ways only when China says it must. So far, China is quite content with the military rule in Burma.

The International Herald Tribune offers these thoughts on the Chinese connection:

China has been striving to make certain that Aug. 8, 2008, the start of this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing, will be an auspicious date. The Communist authorities have even set the start of their gala for 8 p.m. on 8/8/08.

On that same day, victims of the junta ruling Burma will commemorate the 20th anniversary of a popular uprising against military dictatorship that was violently suppressed. Leaders of that movement, known as the 88 Student Generation, were among the first to be arrested when Buddhist monks led popular protests against the junta last September, and they are among the 700 protesters still incarcerated.

The numerological coincidence of China's Olympic gala and Burma's mournful memory will serve a positive purpose if it reminds the world of Burma's agony in the two decades since Aug. 8, 1988 and of the shameful symbiosis between China's government and the Burmese junta. Beijing has been the principal arms seller and commercial partner of the generals in Burma, and the threat of a Chinese veto in the UN Security Council shields the junta from an international arms embargo.

Yet the other rising power in Asia, democratic India, has shown a decent respect for international opinion by halting arms sales and transfers to Burma's military dictators. As 8/8/08 approaches, the world must see to it that when it comes to propping up the Burmese junta, Beijing's number is up next.