A group of activists in Burma has criticized Russia and China for what they call missing an opportunity to help their nation move toward democracy.
The group, known as the "88-generation students" said today, Moscow and Beijing blocked efforts to have the U.N. Security Council respond to the political situation in Burma.
The activists charge that the Russian and Chinese moves encouraged Burma's military government to extend the house-arrest sentence for pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi for another year.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for most of the last 17 years.
The military government crushed pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988 and later rejected the results of national elections won by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy.
