    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book II)]
    [August 7, 2008]
    [Pages 1119-1120]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Prior to a Lunch With Burmese Activists in Bangkok
    August 7, 2008

        The President. Thank you all for joining me. I'm looking forward to
    my lunch with men and women who care deeply about the human condition in
    Burma.
        Unfortunately, my wife is not here. She's on
    the Thai-Burmese border talking about the same thing that we're going to
    be talking about. I want you to know and want the people of your country
    to know the American people care deeply about the people of Burma, and
    we dream for the day in which people will be free. And part of my reason
    for asking you for lunch is not only to hear your own stories--hear your
    stories, but for you to give me advice about what you think America
    ought to be doing.
        I've just been briefed on the response to the typhoon. And I'm
    pleased that our Government was so generous. And I'm pleased that a lot
    of the aid that we paid for is actually getting to the people
    themselves. One of my questions is not how much money you give, but is
    it actually making a significant difference in people's lives, and was
    told it is. I was told the stories about U.S. money going to buy seed
    and fertilizer so farmers in the delta can get their crops in the ground
    and feed their families and, hopefully, feed people in their
    communities.
        I'm always inspired by acts of courage, and I'm having lunch with
    courageous people. So I want to thank you for coming. I have a couple of
    comments, and then we'll eat some food.
        Do you want to start, please? What's your name?
        Lway Aye Nang. My name is Lway Aye Nang.
    I'm the Palaung ethnic. I also belong to the Women's League of Burma, a
    Burma women's organization comprised of 12 women's organizations based
    on different ethnicities of Burma. And we are working to empower women
    and to be able to participate in peaceful reconciliations in Burma, and
    also raising awareness about Burma, about the gross human rights
    violations in Burma that are committed by the military regime. And the
    international community can help with this work.
        And the military regime, if they are continuing to deploy their
    troops along the ethnic areas, and their soldiers continue to commit
    systematic human rights violations against the ethnic nationality, which
    includes also rapes--this has been used--long used as a weapon of war in
    Burma.
        The President. Yes.
        Lway Aye Nang. And we advocate to get the
    support--with the support from the international community, and we are
    very lucky and very fortunate to have the United States Government to
    support us in different means and different ways. And especially, we
    would like to give--I would like to give our gratitude to the United
    States for the new sanctions in blocking the import of Burmese jade----
        The President. Jade, right.
        Lway Aye Nang. ----to the United States.
        The President. Right.
        Lway Aye Nang. And this is really hitting
    the regime and--the regime and their associates who have been destroying
    the country's natural resources for their own benefit and leaving
    ordinary citizens in extremely poverty.

    [[Page 1120]]

        And secondly, we are also very glad--grateful to have the--our
    American friends and helping the Cyclone Nargis survivors----
        The President. Yes, yes.
        Lway Aye Nang. ----the victims. And we also
    would like to inform the United States Government here, and there is
    still restrictions of aid to the Cyclone Nargis victims by the military
    regime. And we'd like to also request that the United States Government
    to put pressure--to continue to pressure on the regime to hinder the--to
    give the access by the locals and international community to the victims
    of the Nargis Cyclone survivors.
        The President. Thank you.
        Lway Aye Nang. And because we are really
    concerned at the women's organization here, our women and children who
    are in the Cyclone Nargis affected area are----
        The President. Yes.
        Lway Aye Nang. ----vulnerable to the sexual
    exploitations.
        And thank you so much.
        The President. Good job.
        Yes, sir.
        Aung Zaw. My name is Aung Zaw. I was a student
    activist in 1988, and I was briefly detained. I spent a week in a
    notorious military prison. I was tortured there; then after that, I left
    Burma. I started the Irrawaddy Magazine, which I started document the
    human rights violations, and I started collecting information from
    Burma. So we have a stringer who works inside the country, send us
    information to us. And from here--that we release the information from
    here. We use information from him. We also promote an independent
    person's participation on Burma--in Burma.
        And I think we are very pleased that we have this lunch meeting. And
    this was a very, I think, not only a symbolic meeting, but also send a
    strong signal to some ASEAN nations, and also to China, in particular,
    who continue to defend and protect the Burmese military Government.
        Thank you, Mr. President.
        The President. Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:06 p.m. at the U.S. Ambassador to
    Burma's residence. Participating in the lunch were Lway Aye Nang, joint
    general secretary, Women's League of Burma; Aung Zaw, editor, Irrawaddy
    Magazine; Aung Naing Oo, senior associate, Vahu Development Institute,
    Chiang Mai University; Lian Sakhong, general secretary, Ethnic
    Nationalities Council; Win Min, lecturer, Chiang Mai and Payap
    Universities; political analyst Bo Kyaw Nyein; Bo Kyi, head, Assistance
    Association for Political Prisoners; Naing Aung, general secretary,
    Forum for Democracy; and Kyaw Kyaw, director, Political Defiance
    Committee of the National Council of the Union of Burma.