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Chinese Nobel Peace Prize winner’s widow says willing to die rather than live under house arrest
Liu Xia has been under house arrest since 2010, when her husband was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Liu Xiaobo, China’s most well-known political dissident, died last July.
The widow of Chinese Noble Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo has said she is willing to die in protest against authorities holding her under house arrest.
Liu Xia has been under house arrest since 2010, when her husband was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Liu Xiaobo, China’s most well-known political dissident, died last July, days after he was abruptly released from detention following the revelation that he was suffering from terminal liver cancer.
Earlier this week, Liu Xia’s long-time friend, Liao Yiwu, a Chinese author based in Berlin, managed to speak to her on phone from Berlin.
“Now, I’ve got nothing to be afraid of. If I can’t leave, I’ll die in my home. Xiaobo is gone, and there’s nothing in the world for me now. It’s easier to die than live. Using death to defy could not be any simpler for me,” Liu Xia told Liao, according to the website China Change, which publishes write-ups by dissidents.
Though Liu Xia has never been charged with any crime, her movements have been severely restricted, rights activists said.
Activists said the 57-year-old poet and artist suffers from deep depression following years of living under surveillance and needs urgent treatment and counselling.
The government has said Liu Xia has the freedom to go anywhere she chooses but has remained home to cope with her husband’s death.
A key leader of the pro-democracy Tiananmen movement, which left an unknown number of Chinese, mostly students, dead, Liu Xiaobo was repeatedly jailed. He wasn’t allowed to receive the Nobel prize and Beijing harshly cricticised the granting of the award to him, describing it as interference in the country’s internal affairs.
Furious that Liu Xiaobo had been given the prize, China all but downgraded diplomatic ties with Norway.
In a related development, Germany said on Thursday that Liu Xia was welcome to travel and stay there. The German foreign ministry told The Associated Press the government has been discussing Liu Xia’s case with China and “will continue to do so”.
“According to the information available to us, Liu Xia has not been accused of any crime,” the ministry said in emailed comments. “She should be allowed to travel, also for humanitarian considerations. Should she choose to come to Germany, Liu Xia would be welcome here at any time.”
Asked about the case, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said she had no understanding of the situation but Liu Xia is a Chinese citizen and relevant authorities would “handle the issue in accordance with the law”. She did not elaborate.
