China under pressure

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Activists wear masks of Burma's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a demonstration in front of the Chinese embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, Oct. 24. The U.N. special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, was in China that day on the last stage of his diplomatic tour of Asia in support of democratic reforms in Burma. Gambari was expected to return to Burma early this month. China, a close ally of the country officially known as Myanmar, is under pressure to take tougher action against the military regime in the wake of a deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protests led by Buddhist monks in September. A resident of Burma writing under the name "Nang" sent e-mail to a British Broadcasting Corporation bulletin board saying, "You can smell the fear in the air. You can feel it everywhere.... Many believe that the U.N. and the U.S. will be able to change everything. Many believe that this is just the beginning, not the end."

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