LONDON — The devastating cyclone that hit lower Burma (Myanmar) has caused horrific loss of life and largely destroyed what was once the rice bowl of Asia. There is an urgent need for food, clean water and shelter for those affected, but the Burmese authorities would apparently rather maintain their isolation than succor their own people.
China, members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and Japan have a moral duty to exercise all possible pressure on the Burmese rulers to open up their country to the outside world. China and ASEAN nations should not go on using the excuse that no one should interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. This is not acceptable in a humanitarian disaster.
This crisis raises wider questions. Can the world continue to feed its population? Climate change is causing increasing natural calamities including huge hurricanes, cyclones and floods, lengthy droughts in Africa and Australia, and rising sea levels that threaten to wipe out small island communities and damage much arable land.