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Take Manmmar. After the bloody quelling of the "saffron revolution" last September, the ruling junta threw a few sops to inter national opinion. It accepted visits from a United Nations envoy, opened talks with the detained opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and gave a timetable for a political transition. China deserves some credit for forcing the junta's hand. Myanmmar's generals are nobody's puppets. But China, with its big commercial interents in the country, and its support in the UN Security Council, is now the junta's best friend.
It is time to use that position again. Confident that the outside world's focus on their misdeeds has shifted eleswhere, the generals have stalled on dialogues with their opponents at home and the UN's envoy. The plight of their country remains desperate. The political "process " has degenerated into a drive to impose a constitution entrenching military rule. A referendum on this solution will be held on May 10th in a climate of vicious intimidation.
"Keeping the flame alight―Two ways to repair China's image: end the torch relay and take a lead over Manmmar", The Economist, April 12th-18th 2008

逆に、軍政のレファレンダムを非難する側にまわれば、中国はチベットに対する注目をそらせられるんじゃない。で、当の軍政はこの状況で強行採択するつもりなんだろうか。