Mettanando Bhikkhu, in his article "Tourist boycott benefits no one but China" in the Bangkok Post of Feb 16, points out that the considerable support given to Burma by China thwarts sanctions and boycotts imposed on Burma by many Western countries.
His observations are well supported by the wealth of information which has become available over the past 15 years. In her well researched book, World on Fire, Amy Chua's first chapter covers in detail the rapidly expanding commercial dominance by both Burmese-born ethnic Chinese and Chinese migrants over both Burmans and minority groups.
If I might take the liberty of quoting a few excerpts from Ms Chua's book, she writes.
"Since Burma's shift to a market-oriented, open-door economy, both Rangoon, the modern capital, and Mandalay, the ancient City of Gems and royal seat of the last two Burmese kings, have been taken over by ethnic Chinese. Nor is Chinese dominance only an urban phenomenon. After two years of severe flooding in southern China, large numbers of Chinese farmers _ over a million, some estimate _ poured into northern Burma. These new Burmese citizens now grow rice on the cleared hill country they have taken over. Entire Chinese villages have sprung up in this way."
From her numerous sources, Ms Chua further writes: "It is an understatement to say that, in terms of financial and human capital, the vast majority of indigenous Burmans, roughly 69 percent of the population, cannot compete with the country's 5 percent Chinese minority.
"Three-quarters of the Burmans live in extreme rural poverty typically engaging in paddy production or subsistence farming. Despite land reforms during the socialist era, an estimated 40 percent of Burman peasants are landless.
"For rural Burmans, saving money is virtually impossible; anything earned is spent just to stay alive. As a result, most Burmans have little or no capital and have not profited from economic liberalisation."
Ms Chua further writes: "Meanwhile, since 1989, the price of rice in Mandalay has been rising steadily _ at one point, over 1,000 percent in seven years _ with no end in sight. For many Burmans, whose average per capita income is only around $300 a year, this translates into something close to starvation.
"Further, as ethnic Chinese developers in the nineties snapped up all the prime real estate in Mandalay _ making fast fortunes as property values doubled and tripled in the chaotic new markets _ indigenous Burmese Mandalayans were pushed farther and farther away from their native homes. In 1990, SLORC had already forcibly relocated dissidents and Mandalayan monks. Today, thousands of poor, displaced Burmans live in satellite shantytowns on the outskirts of Mandalay, within eyeshot of the gaudy, fenced-off mansions of the SLORC generals, many of whom are openly parasitic on Chinese businessmen."
Perhaps we should question the value of sanctions and boycotts by some well-meaning Western nations.