Democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi said Monday she is planning a political tour of Myanmar, a move likely to measure her popularity and test the limits of her freedom after being freed six months ago.

Suu Kyi, who spent seven years in detention until last November, was asked at a videoconference in Hong Kong to confirm reports she will launch political rallies across the nation, her first since her freedom.

"I hope to travel... in the month of June," the Nobel Peace Prize winner, clad in a beige traditional top, told more than 1,000 academics, students and members of the public gathered at the University of Hong Kong.

"Where I will be going I can't tell you yet. We are trying to work out the itinerary," said Suu Kyi, who was freed less than a week after a widely criticised poll that cemented the military regime's decades-long grip on power.

Suu Kyi's travels around the country have landed her in trouble with the Myanmar authorities several times in the past, and the 65-year-old said she had not been given any security guarantees for the trip.

"I have not been given any safety assurance," she said, but added that it was the "duty of the government" to protect every Myanmar citizen.

Suu Kyi's most recent stint in detention came after her convoy was attacked by a junta-backed militia in 2003 in an ambush apparently organised by a regime frightened by her popularity.

She was arrested along with many party activists and later moved back to her Yangon home -- where she had spent most of the past two decades in detention -- and placed under house arrest for a third time.

The junta said four people were killed in that attack but her National League for Democracy party put the toll at nearly 100.

The tour will be a test of both Suu Kyi's popularity following an election that has left her sidelined from politics, and of her freedom to travel around the country unhindered by the authorities.

The move is likely to go down well with her supporters, some of whom have been frustrated over slow political change in the reclusive nation since her release six months ago.

Suu Kyi's party was disbanded for opting to boycott the November vote because the rules seemed designed to bar her from participating, and it has no voice in the new parliament.

Thousands of exuberant supporters greeted her in Yangon after she was freed in November, when officials said there were no conditions attached to her release.

During the lively 90-minute session, Suu Kyi also commented on a wide range of topics including her view on China, the jailing of fellow Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo and Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's death.

On China, Suu Kyi called for greater openness in the country, which has launched its harshest crackdown on dissents in years since February, arresting scores of lawyers and activists, including prominent artist Ai Weiwei.

"China is a great country, the Chinese people are great people," said Suu Kyi, adding "you can afford to be daring, you can afford room to allow for all kinds of opinions".

Suu Kyi said resistance to change was "not surprising", but pointed out that change was happening all over the world, including the unrest that has swept the Middle East and north Africa, toppling some authoritarian regimes.

On Liu, who remains in a Chinese prison, the Myanmar politician -- who said she was "uncomfortable" being branded as a democracy icon -- urged him and other imprisoned political activists to "keep faith with yourself".

Asked about the recent killing of terror kingpin bin Laden, Suu Kyi -- who has been a long-time advocate of non-violent struggle -- said: "It just shows violence ends with violence."

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