President expands sanctions against Myanmar

President Bush on Friday reached further into his administration’s limited arsenal of sanctions to apply against Myanmar, targeting additional senior officials and regime supporters. He also called on China and India to join international efforts to promote human rights and democracy in the military-ruled Southeast Asian nation also called Burma.

With his wife, Laura, who has taken a personal and very public interest in the nation’s political conditions, at his side, Bush said, “The people of Burma are showing great courage in the face of immense repression. They are appealing for our help. We must not turn a deaf ear to their cries.”

The measures announced Friday follow two earlier efforts to put financial pressure on the leaders of Myanmar that have shown no sign of forcing the military regime into relaxing its grip on the country’s political life.

The steps Bush announced Friday will freeze U.S. assets of 16 additional government leaders and financial supporters. Fourteen leaders were listed under previous sanctions, as well as five Burmese companies and two based in Singapore.

Bush also moved to tighten restrictions on trade with Myanmar involving certain sophisticated computers and equipment that could be used for military as well as civilian purposes.

The regime that has ruled Myanmar for 45 years has come under new pressure over the last month from demonstrations led by Buddhist monks and from diplomatic efforts originating in Washington and at the United Nations.

The special U.N. envoy to Myanmar, Ibrahim Gambari, has failed to gain promises from the government leader, Gen. Than Shwe, to stop the bloody repression of opposition activists and other citizens who have taken part in street protests.

Derek Mitchell, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said sanctions aimed at individual leaders and their supporters served to make life a little less comfortable for them without making it more difficult for the ordinary people of Myanmar.

Bush, speaking to reporters in the White House Diplomatic Reception Room, praised the European Union and Australia for also imposing targeted sanctions on individuals in Myanmar, and said he had asked “other countries to review their own laws and policies, especially Burma’s closest neighbors -- China and India, and others in the region.”

Mitchell said that India has been investing in natural resources in Myanmar, and that China also has invested there and sells military equipment to the government.

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james.gerstenzang@latimes.com