For much of his life, Kim Aris, 48, the younger son of Myanmar’s detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, stayed out of the spotlight and kept his silence.
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He avoided the media even as they sought him out, snapping his pictures in a frenzy during those rare times when he was allowed to visit his famous mother in Myanmar.
But following the 2021 coup that saw the military junta jail his mother, London-based Aris reluctantly stepped forward to speak out in the hope of alerting the world to her worsening heart problems and dire prison conditions.
Suu Kyi, 80, has spent a total of 19 years in detention since 1989, first under house arrest and now in solitary confinement in prison. She is the recipient of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, which her sons accepted on her behalf.
Aris called on Chinese President Xi Jinping to urge Myanmar’s military junta to release his mother, saying Beijing held “the most influence” among foreign states given its long ties and extensive investments in the country.
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“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,” Aris said.