Wed Oct 3, 5:33 PM ET

WASHINGTON - The U.S. is pushing China, India and Japan to use their influence and increase pressure on Myanmar's military leaders after a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, a diplomat said Wednesday.

Lawmakers want the Bush administration and other countries to do more. They specifically criticized China, Myanmar's top trading partner, for not taking a stronger stand.

Scot Marciel, a deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asia, told a Senate subcommittee that the junta's violent response to the demonstrations has reinforced the administration's commitment to see democracy restored.

"We're working to turn the international outrage into increased pressure on the regime," he said, by pressing Myanmar's Asian neighbors and others to do more.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, has vast oil and gas deposits that are coveted by its neighbors and by large companies around the world. India and China, reluctant to criticize the junta in the past, are seen as crucial to pressuring the government into accepting international demands.

Marciel said that while China is worried about the situation inside Myanmar, it has not yet shown a willingness to go beyond calls for restraint. He said an important test would be China's reaction when the matter comes before the U.N. Security Council.

The crisis began Aug. 19 with rallies against a fuel price increase and escalated when Buddhist monks joined in, drawing world attention.

The government says 10 people were killed in the crackdown, but dissident groups put the toll at about 200. They say some 6,000 people have been arrested, including thousands of monks.

The U.S. has responded by imposing new penalties on the junta's leaders.

But Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said the punishments will not work without action by Myanmar's neighbors, especially China. "The killing has to stop, and China needs to make it clear that it's unacceptable," Kerry said.

The Senate's Republican leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said none of Mynanmar's neighbors seems "to have much interest in applying the real pressure that would bring a change."

He added, "Their attitude largely seems to be that it would be bad for business to side with protesters."