Since the bloody crackdown in September, the regime in Naypyidaw has become increasingly isolated. However, they are not sitting idly. They are buying time while ignoring the international community’s calls to reconcile with the democratic opposition and initiate a genuine dialogue.

The Western governments have tightened sanctions on the junta, since constructive engagement is so obviously doomed to failure. This, we believe, is the correct approach.

In this respect, the United States government has led the way in punishing the generals and cutting them off from their aspirations. The US is also the main player in keeping the spotlight on Burma. Recently, the Bush administration increased targeted sanctions on the regime leaders, their families and cronies, and leading Burmese businessmen. We welcomed the decision and hope the sanctions are expanded to hurt all powerful businesspersons who have strong connections to the military leaders. They deserve no less.

But more needs to be done. The generals know that the world’s attention is shifting and its attention span on Burma is short. The regime’s wrath is unyielding and the crackdown on dissidents continues.

Recently, a young man named Nay Phone Latt was arrested for blogging. He could be charged under Burma’s draconian Emergency Act and sentenced to seven years in prison.

The Burmese security forces have also stepped up surveillance on Internet cafés in Rangoon and those who visit them in the wake of hundreds of images and photos being sent out during the carnage in September.

The regime is fighting against a new enemy-cyber dissidents and citizen reporters, armed with cell phones, digital cameras and memory sticks.

Therefore, for the sake of change in Burma, it is vitally important that the lines of communication remain open at all times.

And so to New Zealand, where, last Monday, debate flared in parliament over the contracting of state-owned telecommunications company Kordia to install cell phone towers in Burma.

Kordia chief executive Geoff Hunt was quoted as saying that the firm had installed mobile base station equipment for Myanmar Post and Telecommunications.

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, who had denounced the Burmese regime in the past, was caught between a rock and a hard place. She defended her government’s position saying the contract would probably help democracy.

The Green Party, with six members in New Zealand’s 121-seat parliament, issued a press release criticizing the government for giving the green light for a public company to work in Burma.

The party’s foreign affairs spokesman, Keith Locke, said, “It is shocking that our government should be encouraging a state-owned company to help the Burmese regime, one of the most ruthless in the world.”

Clark countered by stating that there were no economic sanctions on Burma. The small contract that the state-owned Kordia signed was a joint venture with Thai firm ALT Inter Corporation, and was worth about NZ $80,000 (US $62,400).

“Quite frankly, I think that’s probably an aid to democracy [in Burma], not a step backwards,” she said. “Because one of the ways of getting news out to the world and photos and images out to the world is precisely through that technology.”

In fact, she is not wrong. However, we’ve heard these lame excuses too often in the past.

Some years ago, the Australian government provided a series of human rights training courses to Burmese officials in the naïve assumption that the regime would see the light and start respecting the rights of its citizens.

A few years later, in May 2003, a gang of thugs trained by the regime attacked democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her motorcade. Where were the human rights trainees that day?

The junta is a lingering leopard that will never change its spots.

Nevertheless, we believe that the lines of communication between Burma and the outside world must remain open. It is essential that the citizens of Burma be able to purchase cell phones, SIM cards and other IT devices freely and at reasonable prices.

The state-controlled cost of US $1,500 for a SIM card alone is certainly not reasonable.

However, ultimately, more cell phones, cheaper Internet access, a higher computer literacy and unknown future gadgets will inspire a young generation who want to share stories and news with the rest of the world.

We look forward to seeing more and more ordinary folk in Burma chatting on mobile phones, exchanging photos by e-mail and researching news on the Internet. Burma should be flooded with cell phones and Internet cafés.

In the meantime, we must keep pressure on the regime to stop arresting cyber dissidents and citizen reporters who conform to Prime Minister Clark’s image as messengers of news, photos and images to the world. But, she must also be ready to defend Nay Phone Latt and his fellow citizen reporters who languish in prison.