In a development that qualifies as heartwarming only by the standards of a military junta, Kim Aris has spoken with his mother, detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, for the first time in more than five years. "Today, I was finally able to speak with my mother, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, after more than five years. Hearing her voice again means more than words can express," Aris wrote on Facebook on Thursday. The bar for "more than words can express" has, admittedly, been lowered considerably by five years of near-total seclusion.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who won the 1991 Nobel peace prize, is under house arrest in the capital, Naypyidaw, according to Myanmar authorities, where she has been sequestered since being unseated in the February 2021 military coup that ended a tentative decade-long experiment with democracy. The images accompanying Aris's post appeared to show him, a UK resident, standing outside the Myanmar embassy in London - a location chosen, presumably, because the embassy is easier to reach than Naypyidaw.

"I am deeply grateful to everyone who has stood by my mother and me. I believe your voices helped make this moment possible," the post continued. "But my mother is 81 and remains unjustly detained. One conversation is not regular family access." A point so obvious it should not require stating, and yet here we are.

In recent months, authorities have increasingly advertised the loosening of her detention and published photographs of her taking private meetings, as supporters demanded "proof of life" of the octogenarian. On Monday, authorities said she received a package from Britain's King Charles, including two books about soil and a "sealed diplomatic communication" from the monarch. Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the contents. The soil books, one assumes, are a metaphor. Or perhaps just soil books.

Myanmar authorities said Aung San Suu Kyi was moved from a prison in Naypyidaw to house arrest in April, and in August they published images of her meeting the nation's Red Cross representative. After ruling Myanmar as military chief for five years, Min Aung Hlaing - who ousted Aung San Suu Kyi in the 2021 coup - was earlier this year installed as civilian president. Analysts described the election that put him in office as a charade, and said he could be loosening restrictions on Aung San Suu Kyi in an attempt to court international legitimacy. Nothing says "legitimate civilian government" quite like a five-year silence followed by a single phone call and some photos of soil literature.