Word: burma
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...might is viewed with suspicion and fear in many quarters. China's relationship with the West has been particularly strained after March's bloody demonstrations in Tibet and the chaotic protests that dogged the Olympic Torch relay. But the quake, coming just 10 days after Cyclone Nargis ripped into Burma, has cast the Chinese government in a different light. By blocking foreign aid, Burma's paranoid military junta demonstrated just how impotent and callous to the suffering of its citizens a repressive autocracy can be. But even Beijing's critics expressed admiration for China's swift response to the quake...
...Burma's Pain The deadly cyclone in Burma has exposed the cruel and inept leadership of the country's military rulers [May 19]. Under their watch, nothing good has happened to Burma or its people. To call these men generals is an insult to the Burmese Army. A group of privates could do a better job. Please do the world a favor and print photographs of these failed leaders. W. Paul Lau, Sydney...
...absurd in such a catastrophe that the military junta in Burma has asked people to vote on a constitutional referendum called "discipline-flourishing democracy." It is equally appalling, while people are dying in the wake of the cyclone, to slow the arrival of relief workers. It's too bad Burma has no oil. If it did, I'd bet America and its allies would find a way to solve the problem. John C.M. Lee, Hong Kong...
...first wave of government employees moved here, Naypyidaw remains under construction. Workers toil in the searing heat, mostly unaided by such modern conveniences as cranes or bulldozers. So far, their efforts have produced, among other things, the country's only major highway, five police stations and three golf courses. (Burma's generals are notoriously fond of the sport.) The new capital is also home to a massive zoo, whose elephants were pillaged from its Rangoon counterpart. Government housing is provided in brightly colored blocks reminiscent of a down-market Florida retirement community. The apartments are color-coded by occupation - blue...
...only attempt at a tourist attraction is a replica of Rangoon's famous Shwedagon pagoda. The Naypyidaw version, though, remains unfinished. At the building site, groups of child laborers - some appearing no older than six - lug heavy rocks on woven stretchers and swing pickaxes into the hard earth. Burma's junta has long been considered one of the world's worst human-rights abusers. But the country's generals don't have to see these tiny laborers build a golden temple for their Abode of Kings. That's because the generals are bunkered in another, faraway part of the city...