Aung San

Myanmar’s National League for Democracy is a small piece of the country’s parliament. But already its flexing its muscle as the nascent parliament begins to deal with real issue that will shape the country’s future.

A Chinese company is moving to begin a large copper mining project in rural Myanmar, but its running into stiff resistance from monks and local farmers who say they’re being taken advantage of. Police moved in with water cannons and fire bombs — but the national government says that won’t happen again.

Aung San Suu Kyi has emerged from the shadows of protest in Myanmar and taking a seat in the country’s government. That’s enabled her to travel the world, finally, and to the United States this week. But her visit comes shortly before the visit of the president who implemented reforms that freed her, which has forced the U.S., and her, into difficult balancing act.

Officials and advocates say that Europe and the United States should use the seemingly successful Myanmar elections as a reason to justify a broad rollback of the sanctions that have been levied against the southeast Asian nation for decades.

As Myanmar moves ahead with a set of reforms that have included the release of political prisoners, the country’s government is also opening up its media. In some cases they’ve ended pre-publication censorship entirely and in others they’ve greatly reduced the restrictions.