Tom Lantos: “I pointed out to him that gestures are not enough, that with the enormous leverage China has over Burma, China must take…”

“I pointed out to him that gestures are not enough, that with the enormous leverage China has over Burma, China must take serious, substantive measures to compel the Government of Burma to give back the freedom to its own people and her freedom to Aung San Suu Kyi, the legally elected leader of Burma. I call on the Government of China, just a few months short of the opening of the Beijing Olympics, to do the right thing, to exert its enormous influence on behalf of the people of Darfur, on behalf of the people of Burma, and by inviting His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, for a dialogue in Beijing. Nothing would make the climate for the opening of the Beijing Olympics more positive and salutary than a serious dialogue between the Government of China and the Dalai Lama.”