Letter to the President of PRC

Dear President,
(People Republic of China)
Date: September 17, 2003.

The peoples of China and of the Union of Burma have ties of culture, history and blood.

Many of the peoples of the Union migrated from China in times past and are closely related to peoples still living there. Many Burmese are descended from
intermarriages involving recent emigrants from your great country.

Burma is China's Gateway to the South, while the Burmese people would like to be able to look upon China as an example of development that offers a Middle Way between economic and social priorities.

One of the greatest threats to an equitable and just world is the current imbalance of power that exists between, on the one hand, a particularly powerful
country, and on the other hand the rest of the world, more especially the less economically developed countries, of which Burma is one.

Everything, therefore, should incite the peoples of Burma to look upon China as a protective elder brother. But one important fact prevents them from
doing so, and forces them instead, against their natural inclination, to seek the support of the western powers.

They cannot accept that the Government of China, the legitimate representative of our great northern neighbor, has given and continues to give massive
support to the vain, corrupt, self-seeking military clique which has for the past forty-one years been ruling our country in its own personal interest, against the interests of the Peoples of Burma.

The peoples of the Union of Burma have had enough. They are determined to get rid of the warlords by whatever means are necessary. In this they are
inspired by the struggles of the Chinese peoples before them, who pioneered the way.

We, exile Burmese students hereby respectfully request the Government of China, as fellow Asians, to cease interfering in the internal politics of Burma by
arming and financing the forces of corruption and bloody repression in our country.

Instead, we ask that you throw your moral weight behind the investiture of a government that is representative of the interests of the common people.

We are determined that our cause, the cause of our peoples, shall succeed, with or without you. Without you, the struggle will be long and hard, and all will
suffer. In such case, we shall have to rely increasingly on others who are prepared to help us, whatever their motives for doing so may be. With you,
our struggle will be short and possibly bloodless, and the future friendship between our nations shall be assured, for the betterment of the peoples throughout the South-East Asian Region. Trusting that this, our call to you, as brother Asians, shall not go unheeded,

Yours sincerely,

Ko Ko Lay
Secretary General
Association of Burmese Students (San Francisco)
2395 26th Ave # 3,
SF, CA 94116
Tell/Fax: 415-564-2446
Cell: 415-725-6028