Burmese democracy activists are so used to defeat that they were stunned by the diplomatic coup d'etat that came in the way of Than Shwe's dreams of the ASEAN Chairmanship. Than Shwe lost face and this diplomatic disaster can precipitate significant political change in Burma.
The Chinese Foreign Minister is a very experienced diplomat. His style is very similar to that of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew. He was China's Ambassador to the United Nations when Madeleine Albright was America's UN Ambassador. Later he served as China's Ambassador to America in Washington DC.
The Chinese Foreign Minister lived for about ten years in America and has a deep understanding of American politics. The 97-1 vote in the US Senate (for sanctions) and the 423-2 vote in the US House of Representatives illustrates America's deep commitment for the restoration of freedom and democracy in Burma.
This is the type of Congressional mandate that gives the American President the green light to use all means necessary to confront the Burmese generals.
ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) of which China is a member called for the release of ASSK and cited lack of democratic progress in Burma, which is really a vote of no-confidence in the SPDC. ARF's Final Communiqué stated that "the group's 25 ministers" expressed this concern. China is part of this group, and this may be why the Chinese Foreign Minister made his surprise one-day visit to Rangoon last week.
The ASEAN meeting in Laos was a total disaster for Than Shwe. Without the Chinese veto, a Cambodian type political settlement can now be imposed by the UN Security Council.