[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.