Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday (April 18) vowed to press for greater autonomy for the nation’s ethnic minorities, in an early move to soothe the rebellions roiling the country after her party’s ascent to power.

The country has been swept up in optimism for a more peaceful and prosperous future since the National League for Democracy (NLD) took power from the military on April 1.

But the democracy figurehead warned Myanmar’s prospects pivot on ending ethnic conflicts that have blistered the country since its independence in 1948.

To do so, the NLD government will seek “a real federal democratic union”, Ms Suu Kyi said in a televised address marking Myanmar’s New Year.”Peace and a federal democratic union are closely intertwined and that’s why we need to change the constitution. The most important thing is national reconciliation.”

They were Ms Suu Kyi’s first major comments as “state counsellor” – a role she took on following the handover from an army that dominated the country for 50 years.

The current charter, penned by the military in 2008, centralises power.

The pledge to create a federal set-up could reassure ethnic leaders that the NLD will govern for all, despite its leadership being drawn heavily from the Buddhist Bamar majority.

The NLD swept up seats in many of Myanmar’s ethnic areas in last year’s election.

Nobel Laureate Suu Kyi is blocked from becoming president by the same charter as her two sons are not Myanmar citizens.

Attempts to amend the document under the former quasi-civilian government were stymied by the military – which is gifted 25 per cent of all parliamentary seats by the constitution it scripted.

Any moves to change the charter are likely to meet stiff resistance from the still-powerful military.

Ms Suu Kyi has taken a firm grip of the country’s first civilian-led government in decades by taking on a string of senior roles in the new administration, including the powerful – if vaguely defined – advisory role.

She has vowed to rule “above” the president, picking school friend and close aide Htin Kyaw as her proxy.

Conflicts continue to rage in several areas between ethnic minority armed groups and the army, which operates beyond the reaches of civilian government, after a ceasefire pact signed late last year failed to include all of the country’s fighters.

BEIJING – China on Monday stepped up its war of words with Taiwan after Taipei freed 20 suspects in a telecom fraud case linked to China, with state media accusing Taiwan of tolerating crime and being taken hostage by anti-Chinese forces.

Malaysia had deported the 20 people, who were part of a group of 53 Taiwanese it arrested in March on suspicion of fraud, according to Taiwan’s foreign ministry. But their release has prompted anger from Beijing.

Taiwan, for its part, has been infuriated by the forcible deportation of more than 40 Taiwanese people to China from Kenya, also on suspicion of telecom fraud. China says they are wanted for crimes committed against Chinese people in China.

Such telecoms fraud involves calls from people pretending to be law enforcement officials or companies saying money is owed to them, China says.

In a strongly worded editorial on Monday, the influential state-run Chinese tabloid the Global Times said Taiwan’s release of the 20 had disgraced the island’s rule of law and politicised what should be a normal legal case.

It accused the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which won presidential and parliamentary elections by a landslide in January, of manipulating public opinion and stirring anti-China feeling. “The key is that the mainland should stick more firmly to its principles, and resolutely resist the rascally demands by Taiwan’s twisted politics,” it said. “Western democratic politics can easily provide a hotbed for radicalism and extremism. Taiwan and Hong Kong both have demonstrated this tendency,” the paper added, referring to recent protests in the former British colony.

The DPP was not immediately available for comment.

China claims self-ruled and democratic Taiwan as a wayward province, to be brought under its control by force if needed. Defeated Nationalist forces fled to Taiwan after loosing a civil war to the Communists in 1949.

China says the cases of the fraud suspects, whether from Kenya or Malaysia, should be a simple criminal matter.

China’s official Xinhua news agency on Monday published fraud victims’ denunciations of the release of the suspects by Malaysia. “When we saw that Taiwan gang had been caught we felt relieved. Now they’ve been released this is a covert toleration of their crimes, which is hateful!” said one 67-year-old victim, surnamed Liu.

China’s Ministry of Public Security says Taiwanese people have been heavily involved in telecom fraud in China and had caused huge losses, with some victims killing themselves.

Japan’s atomic regulator on Monday (April 18) said there is no need to shut down the country’s only operating nuclear station on south-western Kyushu island, where a series of quakes killed more than 40 people and damaged infrastructure.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) said it was monitoring the situation closely at four nuclear power stations, after calling a special meeting of its commissioners.

Sensitivity over atomic power is high in Japan after the Fukushima disaster of 2011 was sparked by an earthquake and tsunami.

There were no safety issues at the Sendai nuclear station, which has two reactors and is about 120 km south-southwest of Kumamoto city, close to where the quakes struck, NRA Chairman Shunichi Tanaka said at a press conference after the meeting.

The NRA is monitoring Genkai, about 100 km north-west of Kumamoto, and Ikata, about 160 km east-northeast of the quake zone.

Strong quake strikes southwestern Japan

Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source: 

AFP, Reuters, REUTERS/Kyodo

Sendai and Genkai, which has four reactors, are operated by Kyushu Electric Power, while Ikata is owned by Shikoku Electric Power.

The regulator is also monitoring Shimane, a two-reactor station operated by Chugoku Electric Power, located further away on the main island of Honshu.

The country has been taking steps back to nuclear energy since the Fukushima disaster led to the eventual shutdown of all reactors. It turned on the first reactor at Sendai in August after a two-year blackout and the second at the same station in October.

Another station that began operating later, however, was shut down by a court last month.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and many in industry say nuclear power is necessary to cut fuel bills despite widespread public opposition to atomic power, even after electricity bills rose.