Myanmar's ruling generals accused exile dissident groups on Friday of fomenting two weeks of rare protests and signalled no let up in efforts to crush them despite harsh US and European Union criticism.
"The government has information that external anti-government groups are giving directives and providing various sorts of assistance to internal anti-government groups to stir up mass demonstrations and instability," state-run newspapers said.
"The people will not accept any acts to destabilise the nation and harm their interests and are willing to prevent such destructive acts," they said.
There was no direct reference to tough criticism from US President George W. Bush and the European Commission of one of the harshest crackdowns on dissent in the former Burma since the army ruthlessly crushed an uprising in 1988.
The Myanmar military, which has ruled since 1962, rarely reacts directly to external pressure or rhetoric, much to the frustration of fellow members of the Association of South East Asian Nations which have tried and failed to foster change.
But China, Myanmar's largest trading partner and the closest it has to a friend, also sounded frustrated on Friday, saying it wanted reconciliation and improved conditions there and welcomed international efforts to that end.
"China is willing to strengthen its communication and dialogue with all the relevant sides, including the United States," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said during an Asia-Pacific summit in Sydney.
"We hope to see reconciliation and improvement in the situation in Burma," he said in a pointed comment that followed an unflattering account of Myanmar's new jungle capital his ministry published earlier this year. However, Myanmar did not come up in bilateral meetings Chinese President Hu Jintao held in recent days, including one with Bush, Liu said.
The comments came after two days of protests by Buddhist monks in the town of Pakkoku, 80 miles (130 km) south-west of Mandalay, the latest against huge fuel price rises last month. State-owned MRTV said the seizure of 13 government officials and torching of their cars by young monks on Thursday was the result of external agitation.
Residents blamed the junta, whose troops fired warning shots over the heads of monks during a protest the previous day. Soldiers and pro-junta gangs had manhandled monks and bystanders when they broke up the march, some people said. "The monks were just peacefully marching, reciting holy scriptures. But it was handled very cruelly and rudely. Some monks were beaten and tied up to the lampposts," one said.
In an apparent but unrelated concession, protester Ye Thein Naing, whose leg was broken during his arrest a week ago, was allowed to go to hospital on Wednesday, allowing 40 other detainees to call off a hunger strike, activists said.
The protests, albeit generally small and not swelled by onlookers cowed by all-pervasive security, have been notable for their persistence despite the prospect of long jail terms. They have continued despite the detention of most of the leaders of the 1988 protests for their roles in the latest demonstrations. Up to 3,000 people are believed to have been killed in the military's crackdown against the 1988 protests.
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