Kim Aris, the son of Myanmar’s jailed State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, requested that China assist in securing the release of his mother, the 80-year-old Nobel laureate who’s been held incommunicado by the military since it ousted her National League for Democracy (NLD) government on Feb. 1, 2021.
“Today I urged China to help free my mother,” Aris wrote in a post on social media. “The release of my mother and all political prisoners is the essential first step toward reconciliation and stability. China has the influence to help make this possible.”
This statement from Aris follows comments he gave in an interview to Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post newspaper, in which he appealed directly for Aung San Suu Kyi’s release to China’s President Xi Jinping.
In an interview with DVB on Sept. 16, Aris expressed his concerns about Aung San Suu Kyi’s worsening heart condition over the last four-and-half years that she’s been held in prison by the regime in Naypyidaw, which seized power during the 2021 coup.
Regime spokesperson Zaw Min Tun told pro-regime media on Sept. 6 that Aung San Suu Kyi is in “good health.” Naypyidaw has repeatedly refused to allow any independent access to verify the jailed leader’s condition, or provide proof of life.
“I worry all the time that my mother might die in prison,” Aris told the South China Morning Post. He has repeatedly called on the regime to allow him to communicate with his mother and allow her access to proper medical care.
Beijing’s close ties to Naypyidaw has put it in a position to be able to pressure the regime to release Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as the 22,489 other political prisoners locked up in Myanmar since the 2021 coup.
“I appeal to President Xi Jinping to call for her release and to do more to put pressure on the junta … to make sure that those who should be freed are freed,” said Aris. “As far as I know, nobody—including the Chinese—has been allowed to see her,” he added.
Aris highlighted Aung San Suu Kyi’s positive relationship with China as Myanmar’s head of state from 2016-21, prior to the 2021 coup. As State Counsellor, Aung San Suu Kyi met with President Xi during his 2020 state visit to Myanmar and signed numerous bilateral agreements.
“My mother and the NLD had a good, productive relationship with China,” Aris said. “She recognised how important that relationship was for Myanmar’s development.”
Aris went on to criticize the China-backed Myanmar regime elections scheduled to begin on Dec. 28, calling it a “sham” that will only deepen the civil conflict and prevent national reconciliation.
“These are the right goals for Myanmar, as they are for China…But they will not happen through a fake election in which millions of people are disenfranchised,” he concluded.
Aris believes that the release of Aung San Suu Kyi from prison in Naypyidaw is a necessary precondition for resolving Myanmar’s crisis since the 2021 coup.
