Kim Aris, the son of Myanmar’s revered pro-democracy icon, Aung San Suu Kyi, has issued a fervent plea to Chinese President Xi Jinping, imploring him to exert influence on the ruling junta to facilitate his mother’s release from prison.
Aris, a 48-year-old British-born individual who has historically maintained a distance from political affairs, has recently stepped into the international spotlight, appealing to global leaders for assistance. His urgent appeals are driven by deep concern for his 80-year-old mother, who is reportedly suffering from serious heart problems while incarcerated.
“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 stated, as quoted by the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post on Friday, October 3, 2025.
He further revealed, “China has been calling for May May’s [Suu Kyi’s] release, according to my sources,” using the affectionate Burmese term for mother.
Aris believes that Chinese officials, much like others, are keen to meet with his mother and have sought access to her.
However, he lamented that to his knowledge, Chinese officials, along with everyone else, have been denied access to her.
In a desperate move, Mr. Aris extended an open invitation for anyone outside the prison system to attempt to visit her, stating, “then at least someone could confirm she is alive.”
His profound worry is palpable: “I worry all the time that my mother might die in prison. The conditions in prison are horrendous,” he expressed.
Aung San Suu Kyi, now 80, has endured a cumulative 19 years in detention since 1989, transitioning from house arrest to her current solitary confinement. She is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, awarded in 1991 for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights.
Following her electoral victory, she served as Myanmar’s State Counsellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2016 to 2021, a period during which she maintained strong diplomatic ties with China.
Her political career was abruptly halted by a military coup in 2021, leading to her arrest and subsequent imprisonment. Mr. Aris highlighted that his mother and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party had a more favorable and productive relationship with China compared to the current junta leader, Min Aung Hlaing, who orchestrated the coup.
“My mother and the NLD… had a good, productive working relationship with China before the coup,” Mr. Aris affirmed. “She was trying to develop that relationship… [which] she realised was very significant for her country.” He added, referring to Myanmar’s former name, “Things were developing in Burma, and China could do business with Burma and trust that those business interests would see fruition of some sort and not be destroyed by other people’s greed.”
President Xi Jinping himself met with Aung San Suu Kyi in 2020 during his two-day state visit to Myanmar.
This significant visit culminated in 33 agreements, designed to strengthen key projects under China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, aimed at expanding global trade and infrastructure.
These agreements specifically included accelerating the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, the development of a deep-sea port in Rakhine state, and a new urban development project in Yangon.
Prior to this, Suu Kyi had also visited China in both 2015 and 2016.
China remains Myanmar’s second-largest foreign investor, with over $7.7 billion invested during the 2024-25 financial year, and an additional $3 billion already invested in the 2025-26 financial year, according to recent reports.