UPDATES WITH FRENCH FM STATEMENT, CORRECTS SPELLING OF LIU’S NAME
By Emel Oz Gozellik
SHENYANG, China (AA) – Struck by cancer, Liu Xiaobo, a Nobel laureate died Thursday of multiple organ failure at the age of 61.
According to Chinese officials, Liu was admitted to a hospital in the northeastern city of Shenyang last month, while he was serving a sentence of 11 years in jail.
Liu Xiaobo was diagnosed in 2014 of late-stage liver cancer. The jail announced last month that Liu had a lump in his abdominal region, hypotension, failing kidney functions, and partial intestine obstruction.
His sentence was given in 2009 for his support of a pro-democracy charter. He had been awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 for his human rights activities.
His supporters and several countries had requested that Liu be transferred to a hospital outside of China while Beijing had said the best treatment for him would be in the country.
China eventually let two foreign doctors examine him.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson lauded the Nobel laureate, saying: “In his death, he has only reaffirmed the Nobel Committee’s selection”.
“Mr. Liu dedicated his life to the betterment of his country and humankind, and to the pursuit of justice and liberty,” he said in a statement. “In his fight for freedom, equality, and constitutional rule in China, Liu Xiaobo embodied the human spirit that the Nobel Prize rewards. ”
Tillerson further urged Beijing to release Liu’s wife, Xia, from house arrest and allow her to leave China “according to her wishes”.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian also urged Chinese authorities to allow Liu’s wife and family to move freely.
“Despite long periods of detention and for more than 30 years, he never stopped defending, with courage, fundamental rights and freedom of speech,” said Le Drian in a statement.
“Human rights are a priority of French diplomacy all over the world and, because of that, this issue is part of our dialogue with China.”
