OSLO: China bears a "heavy responsibility" for the "premature" death of 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said on Thursday (Jul 13).

The prominent democracy advocate died aged 61 while still in custody following a battle with cancer.

Officials ignored international pleas to let Liu spend his final days free and abroad. Germany and the United States had offered to take him in for treatment.

"We find it deeply disturbing that Liu Xiaobo was not transferred to a facility where he could receive adequate medical treatment before he became terminally ill," Berit Reiss-Andersen, who chairs the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said in a statement.

"The Chinese government bears a heavy responsibility for his premature death."

Reiss-Andersen complained that the dissident had not been able to benefit from treatment abroad.

"While the whole world watched, China chose instead to maintain the isolation of its prisoner," she added.

Liu was transferred from prison to a heavily guarded hospital to be treated for late-stage liver cancer more than a month ago.

He became the first Nobel Peace laureate to die in custody since German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky, who passed away in a hospital while held by the Nazis in 1938.

Liu was not able to attend the Nobel award ceremony in Oslo in 2010 as he was already serving an 11-year prison sentence for allegedly "attempting to undermine political order".

The former head of the Nobel committee placed that year's peace prize on an empty chair to honour Liu.

"We now have to come to terms with the fact that his chair will forever remain empty," Reiss-Andersen added.

"At the same time it is our deep conviction that Liu Xiaobo will remain a powerful symbol for all who fight for freedom, democracy and a better world."

Reiss-Andersen criticised the international community for meeting the announcement of Liu's serious condition "with silence and belated, hesitant reactions" although she added that France, Germany, the US and the EU "eventually" called for his unconditional release.

"It is a sad and disturbing fact that the representatives of the free world, who themselves hold democracy and human rights in high regard, are less willing to stand up for those rights for the benefit of others," Reiss-Andersen said.

Norway, among other nations, has been silent in recent days over Liu's condition.

Even though the Norwegian Nobel Committee is independent of the government, Beijing froze diplomatic ties with Oslo as a result of Liu winning the peace prize.

Beijing and Oslo relations were normalised last December.</s>Germany said Wednesday it was ready to treat terminally ill Chinese Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo, and urged Beijing to let him leave the country.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert voiced "the very greatest concern" over reports that Liu's health had further deteriorated, calling the family's situation "dramatic".

The democracy advocate's hospital said Wednesday that 61-year-old Liu had suffered respiratory failure after it earlier reported he had organ failure.

"Germany stands ready to host and medically treat" the Chinese activist, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2009 for "subversion" after calling for democratic reforms, Seibert said.

"The German government appeals to the Chinese leadership to prioritise the humanitarian aspects of this case and allow Mr Liu and his family to immediately leave the country."

Liu was released on medical parole after being diagnosed with terminal liver cancer last month.

One of his family friends told AFP that he had sent a letter from Liu's wife to the US and German governments expressing the couple's wish to leave China.

The Chinese government has rebuffed international appeals to let Liu seek treatment abroad, saying he is getting the best possible care from top domestic doctors.

Liu risks becoming the first Nobel Peace Prize laureate to die in custody since German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky, who passed away in a hospital while held by the Nazis in 1938.

Seibert said the latest reports on the dissident's state of health "raise the question of whether Mr Liu's cancer should have been diagnosed and treated far earlier".

Liu was arrested in 2008 after co-writing Charter 08, a bold petition that called for the protection of basic human rights and reform of China's one-party Communist system.</s>BEIJING — China’s imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo is suffering from organ failure and shock as his condition deteriorates, the hospital treating him said Wednesday.

The hospital published the results of two tests that showed weak liver function even as Liu, who has terminal liver cancer, was receiving dialysis and plasma transfusions.

Liu remains in “active rescue” status, the First Hospital of China Medical University said in a brief statement on its website, without providing other details.

China’s most prominent political dissident was diagnosed with advanced liver cancer in May and transferred to the hospital in the northeastern city of Shenyang where he is closely guarded.

Liu’s ailing health became the subject of international attention as supporters and several foreign governments called for him to be freed to go abroad for treatment.

On Tuesday, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert again urged China to parole Liu so he can receive medical care at a location of his choosing.

Beijing has rebuffed such calls, saying Liu is too sick to travel and already receiving the best care possible, and that other countries should not interfere in its internal affairs.

Liu was convicted in 2009 of inciting subversion for his role in the “Charter 08” movement calling for political reform. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize a year later while in prison.</s>BEIJING (AP) — China’s government is deploying its full range of information control techniques as international pressure mounts over its handling of imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo and his wish to leave the country for treatment of late-stage liver cancer.

Beijing has coordinated leaks of hospital surveillance video and imposed a near-total news blackout in Chinese-language media and on social networking sites in an attempt to limit the spread of information about Liu’s illness and push its claim that he is receiving adequate treatment.

Liu was diagnosed in May and has asked to be allowed to receive treatment outside China.

Western governments including the United States and the European Union have urged Beijing to let Liu leave on humanitarian grounds. Beijing appears to have rejected the calls.</s>BEIJING — The Latest on the medical condition of China's imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Liu Xiaobo (all times local):

The Chinese hospital treating Liu Xiaobo says the imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate has respiratory failure and his condition is now life-threatening.

The First Hospital of China Medical University said Wednesday on its that Liu needs a tube to be inserted into his windpipe to give him breathing support.

It said Liu's family has refused the tracheostomy. Liu and his family, who are being closely guarded in the hospital, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The hospital reported that Liu, who has advanced liver cancer, is also suffering from renal failure and septic shock, and that blood clots have formed around his body.

The ailing health of China's most prominent political dissident has become the subject of international attention, with supporters and several foreign governments calling for him to be released to go abroad for treatment.</s>PARIS: US President Donald Trump and his French counterpart offered praise for Xi Jinping at a press conference Thursday (Jul 13), but avoiding comment or criticism over Chinese Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo's death.

Trump described Xi, the Chinese president, as a friend and patriot, refraining from offering any remarks on the death of Liu, a prominent dissident who lost his life to cancer while in detention.

Of Xi, Trump said: "He's a friend of mine. I have great respect for him.

"We've gotten to know each other very well. A great leader. He's a very talented man. I think he's a very good man. He loves China. I can tell you. He loves China."

That praise was echoed by French President Emmanuel Macron, who described as "extremely fruitful and positive" his first contacts with Xi.

The French leader later paid tribute to Liu in a tweet, praising him as "a freedom fighter" and saying his thoughts were with his family.

Earlier Trump's Secretary of State Rex Tillerson praised Liu and called for his wife to be released.

"Mr Liu dedicated his life to the betterment of his country and humankind, and to the pursuit of justice and liberty," Tillerson said in a statement.

"I call on the Chinese government to release Liu Xia from house arrest and allow her to depart China, according to her wishes."</s>China's Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo died on Thursday while still in custody following a battle with cancer, authorities said, after officials ignored

international pleas to let him spend his final days free and abroad.

The prominent democracy advocate died aged 61, more than a month after he was transferred from prison to a heavily-guarded hospital to be treated for late-stage liver cancer.

The legal bureau in the northeastern city of Shenyang said on its website that Liu died three days after going into intensive care at the First Hospital of China Medical University.

The writer's death silences a government critic who had been a thorn in the side of the authorities for decades and became a symbol of Beijing's growing crackdown on dissenting voices.

Liu's death puts China in a dubious company as he became the first Nobel Peace Prize laureate to die in custody since German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky, who passed away in a hospital while held by the Nazis in 1938.

International human rights groups, Western governments, and local activists had urged authorities to free Liu and grant his final wish to be treated abroad.

Germany had offered to treat Liu, calling for a "signal of humanity" from China. The United States also said it was willing to take him in.

But officials insisted that Liu was receiving treatment from top Chinese doctors since being granted medical parole following his diagnosis in late May.

In response to calls to allow Liu to leave China, the foreign ministry repeatedly said other countries should not interfere in China's internal affairs.

In early July, Liu's Chinese doctors said he was not healthy enough to be sent abroad for treatment, a position that was contradicted by US and German medical experts invited by the hospital to examine Liu's condition.

The physicians offered to treat the laureate at hospitals in their home

Human rights groups decried the way the government treated Liu, accusing authorities of manipulating information about his health and refusing to let him leave because they were afraid he would use the freedom to denounce China's one-party Communist regime.

As a gaunt Liu lay in his sickbed, a video was leaked showing the Western doctors praising their Chinese counterparts -- a scene that was denounced as "grotesque propaganda" by Human Rights Watch.

The German embassy said the video seemed to show that security organs were "steering the process, not medical experts."

Liu was arrested in 2008 after co-writing Charter 08, a bold petition that called for the protection of basic human rights and reform of China's political system.

He was sentenced to 11 years in prison in December 2009 for "subversion".

At the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo in 2010, he was represented by an empty chair.

Liu is also known for his role in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing. His wife, Liu Xia, was placed under house arrest in 2010, but she was allowed to see him at the hospital. Her fate will

His wife, Liu Xia, was placed under house arrest in 2010, but she was allowed to see him at the hospital. Her fate will now worry human rights groups, which had urged the government to free her alongside Liu Xiaobo.</s>Concerned that China’s cancer-stricken Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo is not free to seek the medical treatment of his choosing, the US has urged China to grant him full parole and release his wife from house arrest. “We understand the Chinese hospital treating Nobel Peace Prize laureate and writer, Liu Xiaobo, has invited US, German medical experts to China for medical consultations.

“We remain concerned that both Mr Liu and his family are unable to communicate with the outside world and that he is not free to seek the medical treatment of his choosing,” the White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters during an off camera news briefing.

“We continue to call on the Chinese authorities to grant him full parole and to release his wife from house arrest and provide them the protections and freedoms, such as freedom of movement and access to appropriate medical care consistent with Chinese constitution, legal system, and international commitments,” Sanders said.

The State Department said it was involved in helping to get a US doctor from MD Anderson Cancer Center to China to be able to take a look at him.

“We would like for Mr Liu to be able to make his own health choices about where he would like to go,” the State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said.

“I understand that his wife, who had been under house arrest, was able to be with him at the hospital. We’re happy about that, however, we continue to call on China to release him so that he can receive medical treatment wherever he desires. If it’s in the United States, I think we would certainly welcome that,” she said.

In an editorial, The Wall Street Journal said the government that imprisoned Liu for his beliefs and failed to ensure his health can’t ask the world to trust that it will give him the best care.

“Mr Liu’s request for treatment in Germany offers him the chance to spend more time with his wife Liu Xia, who has been held under house arrest for seven years.

China’s greatest democracy advocate deserves to spend his last days in freedom so the world can hear the final testimony to his struggle,” The Wall Street Journal said.

Early this month, several top American lawakers moved a Congressional resolution urging the US President Donald Trump to help humanitarian transfer of Xiaobo.

Introduced by Senators Marco Rubio, Jeff Merkley, and Ted Cruz, the concurrent resolution urged the government of China to unconditionally release Liu Xiaobo and his wife Liu Xia and allow them to reunite with their family and friends and seek proper medical treatment.

The resolution also urges the Trump Administration to seek Dr Liu’s immediate humanitarian transfer.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App</s>WASHINGTON (AFP, NYTIMES) - Washington on Tuesday (July 11) invited cancer-stricken Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo to come to the United States for medical treatment, renewing its call for Beijing to free him.

The next day, China's state-backed Global Times newspaper slammed the calls by Western forces, branding them "a political charade".

"Western forces are not persuasive in reasoning. What they care about is not Liu's treatment, but transferring him abroad. This is a political charade," it said.

The op-edalso reiterated that the calls for Mr Liu to be allowed to go abroad were an interference of China's domestic affairs.

US State Department spokesman Heather Nauert said on Tuesday that the US continues to call on the Chinese authorities to grant Mr Liu full parole and also for the release of his wife, Madam Liu Xia.

"We continue to call on China to release him so that he can receive medical treatment wherever he desires. If it's in the United States, I think we would certainly welcome that," she said.

Ms Nauert said Washington was pleased that US and German medical experts have been able to visit the terminally-ill cancer patient.

"The State Department was involved in helping to get a US doctor... to China to be able to take a look at him," she said. "There was also a German doctor that was in attendance, too."

Ms Nauert added that Washington is worried not only about the welfare of Mr Liu, 61, but of other dissidents held by China.

"The State Department remains deeply concerned about the continued detention of at least seven defence lawyers and rights defenders, and reports of their alleged torture and denial of access to independent legal counsel," she said.

"We urge the Chinese authorities to immediately release those still in detention and drop the charges."

Mr Liu's heath has deteriorated since authorities revealed last month (June) that he had been transferred from prison to a hospital due to late-stage liver cancer.

But Chinese officials have ignored calls by international human rights groups, Western governments and local activists to grant the prominent democracy advocate's wish to be treated abroad.

Mr Liu has an abdominal infection, organ dysfunction and he went into septic shock, the hospital said in a statement on its website.

He is undergoing kidney dialysis, and is getting anti-infection and organ function support therapy.

On Wednesday, an op-ed in Global Times said the core of the issue is that Mr Liu is a cancer patient and a convicted criminal under China's law.

"Chinese prison authorities are obliged to provide Liu with the best treatment they can, while retaining the responsibility to supervise Liu in accordance with the law," it said.

"Foreign governments and institutes can give medical advice, but they must respect the final decision by China's prison authorities and medics."

On Monday (July 10), a spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geng Shuang, denounced calls for Mr Liu to be freed to go abroad as "meddling" by foreigners, even though the two foreign doctors, who were invited by the government to examine Mr Liu said that he could travel and that their hospitals would treat him.

Mr Liu was arrested in 2008 after co-writing Charter 08, a bold petition that called for the protection of basic human rights and reform of China's one-party Communist system.

He was sentenced to 11 years in prison in December 2009 for "subversion".

At the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo in 2010, he was represented by an empty chair.</s>BEIJING (AP) - China's imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Liu Xiaobo, is in life-threatening condition with multiple organ failure and his family has opted against inserting a breathing tube needed to keep him alive, the hospital treating him said Wednesday.

Liu, who has advanced liver cancer, is suffering from respiratory and renal failure as well as septic shock, the First Hospital of China Medical University said on its website.

It said doctors informed Liu's family of the need for a tracheostomy to keep him alive, but they declined. Liu and his family, who are being closely guarded in the hospital, could not immediately be reached for comment.

China's most prominent political prisoner was diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer in May and was transferred to the hospital in the northeastern city of Shenyang.

Liu's declining health has become the subject of international attention, with supporters and several foreign governments calling for him to be freed to go abroad for treatment.

On Tuesday, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert again urged China to parole Liu so he can receive medical care at a location of his choosing. Two foreign doctors, one German and one American, reported Sunday after visiting Liu that he wanted to leave for the West and it would be possible to evacuate him safely — but it needed to happen soon.

Beijing has rebuffed the calls, saying Liu is too sick to travel and is already receiving the best care possible. China has accused other countries of politicizing the writer's case and interfering in China's internal affairs.

Liu was convicted in 2009 of inciting subversion for his role in the "Charter 08" movement calling for political reform. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize a year later while in prison.

Earlier on Wednesday, the hospital released the results of two tests that showed weak liver function. Liu is receiving dialysis and plasma transfusions.
Nobel Peace Laureate Liu Xiaobo, who has been incarcerated in China for organizing the pro-democracy manifesto "Charter 08," is suffering from late-stage liver cancer which is worsening. The Chinese hospital treating him and foreign doctors, who examined Liu the weekend, disagree on future treatment. Germany, the United States, UK, and other countries have appealed that Liu be allowed to go to the hospital of his choice.