Brutal Burma’s spy games

“Give us money, we’ll distribute it.” The reply of Burma’s corrupt military junta to international aid workers as they sought entry to the country was nothing short of shocking. So is the regime’s refusal of a State Department disaster-assistance team. Sixty-thousand are feared dead in the wake of a devastating tropical cyclone. Some fear the final death toll could rival that of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, which killed more than 225,000. Now is no time for spy games.

Sadly, the Burmese junta — Myanmar, as its illegitimate rulers call the country — has long engaged in just that, sacrificing the interests of its people when expedient. Recall the last time that Burma made headlines. In August, authorities cracked down on thousands of saffron-robed Buddhist monks protesting in the streets against skyrocketing fuel prices. The “Saffron Revolution,” the closest this repressed country came to freedom, was not to be. The government sent police and military forces into the streets to arrest, beat and “disappear” monks, reaffirming willingness to flout international will.

This time, the horror is more passive. Last week, warnings of the severity of Cyclone Nargis were widespread. The regime had ample time to prepare. A more normal and legitimate government would have allowed foreign aid workers early entry and at least attempted to evacuate the at-risk population. But, alas, this is neither a normal nor legitimate government. After seizing power in 1989, it has built Southeast Asia’s most repressive regime, one that rivals North Korea in some respects for its brand of kleptocratic, autocratic misrule.

By late yesterday, the regime began to open the border to aid workers in earnest, but word had not reached downward. British aid workers were denied entry on visa grounds. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino put it so gingerly: “People who are willing to help and provide humanitarian assistance are not being received yet in Burma, and we really hope that they would change their mind.”

Who could stand by such a regime as it fails its own people so miserably? The People’s Republic of China, of course. It sponsors horrific governments on three continents. But, more surprisingly, the same can be said of Burma’s neighbor and trading partner Thailand, as well as India. Nearly half of Burma’s foreign trade is conducted with Thailand and about an eighth of it with India. No one begrudges these nations their right to engage a neighbor. But with economic relations comes political responsibility. Hopefully this week’s tragedy demonstrates the folly of turning a blind eye to a trading partner’s brutal abdication of basic responsibilities.