Ellen Bork

Much reporting on Burma reflects the mistaken impression that things have changed dramatically and for good.  Yet last Saturday, three activists were arrested in connection with a rally outside the Chinese embassy in Rangoon against a Chinese-sponsored copper mine.  

The Burmese activist Moe Thway appeared in The Right Way to Engage Burma, expressing hope that America’s lifting of sanctions on Burma would not enrich corrupt businessmen and the military. Moe Thway counseled American business to “take care” because corrupt businessmen and the military want to “wash their money in a U.S.-made washing machine.” 

As of today, Moe Thway, Aung Soe, and U Gambira, a monk and leader of the 2007 protests against the government, remain in custody in Rangoon’s infamous Insein prison.