The 70-year-old spent much
of her time between 1989 and 2010 in
some form of detention because of her efforts to bring democracy to
military-ruled Myanmar (Burma). In
1991, a year after her National League for Democracy (NLD) won an overwhelming(壓倒性的) victory in an election the
junta(議會) later nullified(廢止), she was awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize.
The committee chairman
called her "an outstanding example of the power of the powerless". She
was sidelined(作壁上觀) for Myanmar's first elections in two
decades on 7 November 2010 but released from house arrest six days later. As
the new government embarked(開始) on a process of reform,
Aung San Suu Kyi - known to many as "The Lady" - and her party
rejoined the political process.
On 1 April 2012 she stood for
parliament in a by-election, arguing it was what her supporters wanted even if
the country's reforms were "not irreversible(不可逆)". She and her fellow
NLD(全國民主聯盟) candidates won a landslide victory and weeks later the former political
prisoner was sworn into parliament, a move unimaginable before the 2010 polls(民意調查).
Barred
from running
However, Ms
Suu Kyi has since been frustrated with the pace of democratic development. In
November 2014, she warned that Myanmar had not made any real reforms in the
past two years and warned that the US - which dropped most of its sanctions(制裁) against the country in
2012 - had been "overly optimistic" in the past. And in June, a vote
in Myanmar's parliament failed to remove the army's veto(否決) over constitutional(構成) change. Ms Suu Kyi is also
barred(禁止) from running for president because her two sons hold British not Burmese
passports - a ruling she says is unfair.
Although her
party(黨) is popular, Ms Suu Kyi has come in for criticism since her election by
some rights groups for what they say has been a failure to speak up for
Myanmar's minority(少數) groups during a time of ethnic(民族) violence in parts of the
country.
Political
pedigree
Aung San Suu
Kyi is the daughter of Myanmar's
independence hero, General Aung San. He was assassinated(被暗殺) during the transition
period in July 1947, just six months before independence, when Ms Suu Kyi was
only two. In 1960 she went to India with her mother Daw Khin Kyi, who had been
appointed Myanmar's ambassador(大使) in Delhi(德里). Four
years later she went to Oxford University in the UK, where she studied philosophy,
politics and economics. There she met her future husband, academic Michael
Aris.
After stints(限制) of living and working in
Japan and Bhutan, she settled in the UK to raise their two children, Alexander
and Kim, but Myanmar was never far from her thoughts. When she arrived back in
Rangoon (Yangon) in 1988 - to look after her critically ill mother - Myanmar
was in the midst of major political upheaval(動盪). Thousands of students,
office workers and monks(僧侶) took to the streets
demanding democratic reform.
"I
could not as my father's daughter remain indifferent to all that was going
on," she said in a speech in Rangoon on 26 August 1988, and was propelled(推進的) into leading the revolt(起義) against the then-dictator(當時的獨裁者), General Ne Win.
Inspired by
the non-violent campaigns of US civil rights leader Martin Luther King and
India's Mahatma Gandhi, she organized(有組織的) rallies(集會) and travelled around the
country, calling for peaceful democratic reform and free elections. But the
demonstrations were brutally suppressed by the army, who seized power in a coup
on 18 September 1988. Ms Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest the following
year. The military government called national elections in May 1990 which Aung
San Suu Kyi's NLD convincingly(令人信服) won - however, the junta(軍政府) refused to hand over
control.
House
arrest
Ms Suu Kyi
remained under house arrest in Rangoon
for six years, until she was released in July 1995. She was again put under
house arrest in September 2000, when she tried to travel to the city of Mandalay in defiance of
travel restrictions. She was released unconditionally(無條件) in May 2002, but just over
a year later she was put in prison following a clash between her supporters and
a government-backed mob(暴民). She was later allowed to return home - but again under
effective house arrest.
During periods of confinement(坐月子), Ms Suu Kyi busied herself
studying and exercising. She meditated(打坐), worked on her French and Japanese language skills, and relaxed
by playing Bach on the piano. At times she was able to meet other NLD officials
and selected diplomats. But during her early years of detention(拘留) she was often in solitary
confinement. She was not allowed to see her two sons or her husband, who died
of cancer in March 1999.
The military authorities offered to
allow her to travel to the UK to see him when he was gravely(嚴重的) ill, but she felt compelled
to refuse for fear she would not be allowed back into the country. Her last
period of house arrest ended in November 2010 and her son Kim Aris was allowed
to visit her for the first time in a decade. When by-elections(補選) were held in April 2012, to
fill seats vacated by politicians who had taken government posts, she and her
party contested seats, despite reservations.
"Some are a little bit too
optimistic about the situation," she said in an interview before the vote.
"We are cautiously optimistic. We are at the beginning of a road."
She and the NLD won
43 of the 45 seats contested, in an emphatic(語調強的) statement of support. Weeks later, Ms Suu Kyi took the oath(誓言) in parliament and became the
leader of the opposition. And the following May, she embarked on a visit
outside Myanmar
for the first time in 24 years, in a sign of apparent confidence that its new
leaders would allow her to return.
