China invites foreign cancer experts to treat Liu Xiaobo
SHENYANG, China: The Chinese hospital caring for cancer- stricken Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo has decided to invite US, German and other foreign experts to treat him in China following international pressure to let him go abroad.
The legal bureau of Shenyang – the northeastern city where Liu is being treated – said in a statement yesterday the invitation was made “at the request” of Liu’s family.
China has faced global calls to give the democracy campaigner the option to get treatment abroad since it emerged last month that he was transferred from prison to a hospital after he was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer.
Beijing has come under fire from human rights groups over its treatment of Liu and for waiting until the Nobel Peace Prize winner became terminally sick to take him out of prison.
But authorities have insisted that the 61-year- old has been getting top-notch care from prominent Chinese cancer doctors at China Medical University No 1 Hospital in Shenyang.
AFP reporters saw several police officers stationed inside the hospital. Nurses at the oncology ward, however, said they could not find Liu’s name in the computer system.
Liu was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2009 for “subversion” after calling for democratic reform. He was awarded the Nobel in 2010, with an empty chair representing him at the ceremony in Oslo.
The invitation of foreign experts came after Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Berlin on Tuesday for a state visit and the G20 summit in Hamburg on Friday.
“It seems that the Chinese authorities are responding to international pressure by making such arrangements,” Amnesty International’s China researcher Patrick Poon told AFP.
But, Poon added, Liu and his wife, the poet Liu Xia, have made it clear that they want him to be treated abroad.
“The Chinese government should respect their wish but not just make arrangements to respond to concerns and criticisms,” he said.
German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said that Berlin hopes Liu will get “all the medical support he needs” and that a “humanitarian solution for Liu Xiaobo should be the highest priority”.
The new US ambassador to Beijing, Terry Branstad, said last week that he would like to see Liu have the chance to get treatment abroad.
Friends of Liu and his wife fear that the dissident may only have months to live and say the couple has expressed its desire for him to go abroad.
Hu Jia, a prominent activist under house arrest in Beijing, told AFP that Liu’s treatment is aimed at reducing the pain and helping him live longer. — AFP