Burma: The Resource Curse

Howard Hsu (a University of California, Berkeley student) travelled to Burma (Myanmar) in the spring of 2008, posing as a tourist. He has published a 3-minute slideshow/video of his findings on the state of the exotic animal trade and degradation of the environment. And yes, China, and othe neighbouring countries are the sources of the destruction.

While roughly half of the remaining forests in mainland Southeast Asia are in Burma, they are rapidly disappearing to fuel China's surging economy. Burma suffers from what some call a "resource curse" -- while its abundant timber and other precious commodities have become prime targets for China and other neighboring countries, the money generated benefits Burma's military regime and does little to help local residents.

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/blog/2008/09/burma_the_resou.html