The author, Susan Puska, writes: 'China's arms sale practices, particularly to Sudan, demonstrate its willingness to look the other way when sovereign states commit genocide and persecution of its citizenry, if it serves China’s national interests -- in this case, access to oil. Even as China has responded to international pressure to nudge the Sudanese regime toward the settlement of the Darfur crisis, it is woefully late. Furthermore, China's newfound support for the resolution of the Darfur tragedy may be short-lived and ineffective, merely a tactical move to counter the bad press that could overshadow the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.'

In Burma, the coveted energy is not oil, but gas.

Over the years, many have tried to directly pressurise Burma (and China indirectly), but with no tangible results. As it is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the other member-states of the Association have been for a long time rather embarrassed by the junta’s behaviour. Two years back, the Malaysian parliament had even tried to force the ASEAN to bar Burma from the chairmanship of the group due to its poor human rights record, its failure to recognise the results of the 1990 elections and the continuation of Suu Kyi's detention. At that time the US and the EU had threatened to boycott the ASEAN meetings if the generals were to chair them; a way out was finally found, with Yangon voluntarily withdrawing.

Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan had also put his foot down. In his report 'Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar' for the UN Commission on Human Rights, he had called upon 'China, India and ASEAN member states to encourage Myanmar authorities to accelerate the pace of their political, economic and socio-humanitarian reform'. But can Beijing encourage a process which it has never followed itself (though there was recently a lot of discussion in China, mainly among Chinese academics, to find a way to introduce some small dose of democracy in the Communist system)?

Image: Buddhist monks pray as they march to downtown Yangon on September 26, ahead of a crackdown on demonstrations by the police.

Photograph: AFP/Getty Images