The latest round of diplomatic sparring between China and the United States over how best to deal with Burma has once again ended with little substantive agreement in approach.
The single aspect of concurrence appears to be in support for the initiatives of the United Nations Special Envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari.
Following last week's Security Council proclamation that the return of Gambari to Burma could achieve positive results, China yesterday urged the Burmese junta to expedite the return of the Special Envoy to the country. Both China and the United States are permanent members of the Security Council.
Junta authorities had recently stated that the next visit of Gambari would be delayed until April.
However Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Jiang Yu, while calling on Burmese authorities to permit an earlier return of Gambari, also instructed the international community that it is important to remain "objective" in their approach to Burma.
Yu drew a strict line between a Chinese policy characterized by "constructive assistance" and the confrontational stance epitomized by the United States and its heavy reliance on the implementation of sanctions against Burma and its ruling generals.
The response yesterday from the Chinese Ministry came one day after a United States State Department official appealed to China to increase pressure on the Burmese junta, describing the current state of affairs in Burma as "downhill on all fronts".
Yu stated that the situation in Burma today is much improved from that which gripped the country at the height of last year's protests.
Speaking in Hanoi at the end of a regional tour, Scot Marciel, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Southeast Asia, followed up harsh words for Burma's generals with the advice to the international community that they must not be perceived as "anti-Burma".
In the alphabet soup of emissaries seeking to find a breakthrough regarding Burma, European Union Envoy to Burma, Peiro Fassino, is scheduled to arrive in Southeast Asia this weekend to further discuss the situation in Burma and the prospect for constructive dialogue between the generals and opposition leaders.
Fassino was in China last month in pursuit of the same goal.
