Chinese evade censors to express sorrow, anger over plight of Liu Xiaobo
Jailed political activist and Nobel Peace Prize Winner is suffering from terminal cancer, but chances of him receiving treatment abroad under medical parole appear slim
Chinese social media users have circumvented government censors to express grief and anger over the plight of the Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, who has terminal cancer amid dimming hopes that he may be allowed out of China to receive treatment abroad.
The political activist was serving an 11-year jail sentence for inciting subversion, but was given medical parole after he was diagnosed with liver cancer. He is now receiving treatment at a hospital in Shenyang in Liaoning province.
Direct mentions of Liu – a long-time political activist and writer – and to his wife, Liu Xia, appear to have been mainly erased from China’s social media sites, but some posts have managed to slip past the censors.
“Although hope is slim, seeing that he has not been abandoned or forgotten by the world – this is also a form of comfort,” one person wrote on Monday.
Another said: “Want his wife to enjoy a stable old age and to live to the end of her days with dignity. Really want to support them, but can’t do anything.”
Liu was diagnosed in May with late-stage liver cancer.
He was jailed in 2009 as one of the authors of “Charter 08”, a manifesto calling for democracy and sweeping political reform in China. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize the following year, but was represented by an empty chair at the ceremony.
