International reactions to the Saffron Revolution
International reaction to the 2007 Burmese anti-government protests ranges from support of the protestors through neutrality to support of the State Peace and Development Council, the ruling junta. While most countries supported the protests and urged the Myanmar's State Peace and Development Council ruling military Junta to implement far-reaching reforms, several key countries, such as the People's Republic of China and India maintained commitment to the notion of noninterference. A number of protests against the Burmese Government's crackdown have been held worldwide. Africa. - Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu on September  25, appealed to the United Nations and international community to press the Burmese government to release political detainees. "The courage of the people of Burma is amazing and now they have been joined by their holy men," the Nobel peace laureate said in a statement. "It is so like the rolling mass action that eventually toppled apartheid," he said of the growing street protests in Myanmar. "We admire our brave sisters and brothers in Burma and want them to know that we support their peaceful protests to end a vicious rule of oppression and injustice." Asia. - China is one of  the closest allies and economic supporters of the ruling junta in Myanmar. In China's first official comment on the protests, Zhang Zhijun, a vice minister of the party's International Department, said Beijing has had minimal contact with either side and would abide by its long-term policy of noninterference in the domestic affairs of its allies. However, the Chinese government has quietly urged Myanmar's military rulers to ease the strife despite its stance that it would publicly stick to a hands-off approach toward its neighbor. "We are seriously following these developments very closely. We are concerned  by it. We are calling on the authorities to exercise maximum restraint and desist from any acts that could cause further violence. Indonesia's approach has always been one of engagement, not necessarily meaning that we are less concerned about the situation therein. We are just convinced that the best way to go is through engagement and encouragement." Also commented by the Foreign Minister was the use of economic sanctions against Myanmar, which was viewed as being more likely to affect ordinary citizens more than the targeted group. Soe Win, the News and Periodicals Enterprise Managing Director and head of  Myanmar's information agency, lauded Malaysia's stand on the issue of sanctions, adding: "Most of the Western media fabricate news about Myanmar, getting information from undesirable elements". On September 28, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi stood up to voice his view that ASEAN's constructive engagement with the Burmese junta has failed, as Myanmar does not occasionally appear to push for democratisation and fails to abide by ASEAN's demands: "It has been the formula used when we deal with Myanmar but up to this stage, it has not been successful although it has been many years  already". The Prime Minister also reiterated support for the dispatch of Ibrahim Gambari to Myanmar by the UN, stating ASEAN was giving its full backing. On the same day, about 3,000 refugees, migrant workers and activists staged a march towards the Burmese embassy in Kuala Lumpur and handed a memorandum to minister-counsellor Win Myint, urging the junta to resolve the unrest in Myanmar. The protest was led by All Burma Democratic Force, followed by a range of other human rights organisations. Another round of peaceful demonstration was held by 2,000 Myanmars affront the Burmese embassy (alongside the Russian and  Chinese embassies) on the morning of October 4. On September 27, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that: "Singapore is deeply troubled and concerned by reports that the demonstrations in Yangon have been suppressed by force. We urge the Myanmar authorities to exercise utmost restraint." Singapore also supported the UN's decision to send Ibrahim Gambari to Myanmar. On October 6, more than 100 Burmese and Taiwanese people marched in Taipei City to support the ongoing demonstrations in Burma. "Free Burma! Free Aung San Suu Kyi!" they shouted. "I'm trying my best to convince the Burmese: 'Don't use  the harsh measures.' At the least they should try to avoid the violent action from the government side.As a Buddhist and as a soldier, I can say that it will be very difficult for the Burmese government to use violence to crack down on the monks. It will be against the way of life of the Buddhists." Europe. - The French government warned Myanmar's ruling junta on September 24, that it would be held accountable if it cracked down on protesters who have taken to the streets in large numbers in Yangon.President Nicolas Sarkozy requested on September 26  that French businesses freeze investments in Myanmar and he called for the UN Security Council to have 'sanctions to be adopted without delay.' "We have all been struck by the dignity and courage of the protests by thousands of Buddhist monks and tens of thousands of ordinary people in cities across the country, and their appeal for national reconciliation, genuine democracy and improved living conditions." "The Burmese authorities must fulfil their promises of reconciliation and democratisation, which the 14-year-long National Convention has singularly failed to deliver. The authorities must engage democratically with the democratic opposition and ethnic groups  in open and inclusive dialogue. The world needs to speak with one voice in ensuring restraint on the part of the Burmese regime in dealing with the peaceful protests.” Ahern also then stated that the European Union should impose more sanctions against Myanmar's military regime: "Within the European Union, Ireland has long taken a strong and principled position on Burma. We are looking urgently at how to increase the pressure on the regime, including through further EU restrictive measures, without harming the ordinary people whose suffering is already so great." "In Myanmar, soldiers opened fire on monks and civilians  taking part in peaceful demonstrations. We strongly condemn this brutal violence." Also, he asked the United Nations Security Council to meet once again. "If the Security Council does not reach an agreement, we will take our own responsibility. In that case, I am convinced that the European Union and the United States will decide on further measures, together with other benevolent countries." In accordance, several sanctions are being considered by the Dutch government, including a possible ban on wood from Myanmar. Also, the Prime Minister remarked that these sanctions should target only the military junta, but not impair the population . "The use of force is the last thing Burma needs right now. That's a message we're sending very clearly from the Norwegian government." "We believe that the countries in the immediate area have a special responsibility. That applies, not least, to China." "In Myanmar, as in Poland, only a bloodless transition to democracy is in the interest of all." "(Sweden) demands that the regime fully respects the right to peaceful protests" ... "We—and the European Union—want to open up for cooperation and trade with a democratic Burma". "That would be a disaster, although in terms of probability , I'm afraid, ranks quite high." Mike Ellam, Prime Minister Gordon Brown's spokesman, stated that: "<nowiki>[</nowiki>HM Government<nowiki>]</nowiki> deplore(s) the continued repression of ordinary citizens by the Burmese regime and we were deeply concerned by reports of further acts of violence perpetrated this week by security officials against peaceful demonstrators." Foreign Secretary David Miliband, at the Labour Party Conferences in Bournemouth, responded to events by saying: "I for one thought it was brilliant to see Aung San Suu Kyi alive and well outside her house last week. I think it will be a hundred  times better when she takes her rightful place as the elected leader of a free and democratic Burma." North America. - The Government of Canada has demanded that Burmese leaders meet with the protesters. On September 26, Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier issued a statement that "Canada condemns the use of deadly force by the military and police against the monks and other protesters in Burma who were expressing their right to peaceful dissent, and calls on Burma to put an immediate end to such violence." Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who in 2005 called Myanmar one of six "outposts of  tyranny", said on September 23 that the U.S. was watching the situation in the Southeast Asian country "very carefully." "The Burmese people deserve better," Rice said. "They deserve a life to be able to live in freedom, just as everyone does. The brutality of this regime is well known." The U.S. would work to raise support for the Burmese pro-democracy protestors during this week's U.N. General Assembly gathering, Rice said. Additionally, various college campuses ran campaigns in solidarity with anti-government protestors. Oceania. - The Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has told reporters that: "I hope the international community  will use this, as Australia does, as an opportunity to express our heartfelt support for the people of Burma who want to see reform there, but also to send a very strong message to the military leaders in Burma that some hardline crackdown like we saw in the 1980s, in 1988, would be completely unacceptable to the international community." On September 27, there were protests in major cities across Australia, supporting the rights of Burmese to democracy and peaceful protest. Also on September 27, Alexander Downer said there was little the United Nations could do after the Security Council's  call for restraint, adding: "The very fact of the Security Council addressing the issue of Burma is important because it helps to provide momentum for international support for reform in Burma and this opportunity has to be used for that." South America. - The Chilean Ministry of Foreign Relations, on September 25, expressed concern and absolutely rejected any action that would prevent the free exercise of basic human rights and called for the government of Myanmar to avoid the use of violence as well as free political prisoners as a gesture of good will to the international community. On September 28 , the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the violence against protesters and called for the international community to make maximum efforts to contribute to the end of the current situation.