Burma's key relationship is with China. The latter has consistently backed the SLORC military regime and is a major supplier of weapons to the 350,000-strong Burmese army. The relationship is symbiotic, allowing China access to the Indian Ocean and giving it great influence over a regime partly dependent on its support. Burma's neighbors regard the arrangement as one which is seriously destabilizing the whole AsiaûPacific region.
Western governments have been active in the UN and EU in condemning the human rights abuses of the regime, and in 1991 Aung San Suu Kyi received the Nobel Peace Prize for her resistance. In practice, however, they maintain an ambiguous relationship with the SLORC regime. Economic ties are growing stronger, particularly between the SLORC-owned state enterprises and Western multinationals. The latter are well represented in the increasingly profitable Burmese offshore oil and gas drilling industries.
