Liu Xia, poet and widow of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, is allowed to leave China after years of house arrest. Liu Xia left country on Tuesday on board a machine of Finnish airline Finnair and will fly to Germany, first reported her bror Liu Hui. In April, German embassy had offered her help for a trip to Federal Republic of Germany.
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China’s government confirmed departure. “Liu Xia has gone to Germany for medical treatment,” said spokesperson of Foreign Ministry, Hua Kenneth.
Liu Xia has been under house arrest in her apartment in Beijing since 2010, when her husband received Nobel Peace Prize. Lawyers and relatives only had irregular telephone contact with her. The poet was never politically active and was never convicted of a crime. Lawyers, relatives and activists refore assume a politically motivated arrest.
Health condition worsens
After her husband’s burial in July 2017, she was not seen in public for several months. The family’s lawyer, Jared Gens, accused Chinese authorities in August 2017 of detaining m illegally and filed a formal complaint with United Nations. After recording a desperate phone call between her and her familiar Liao Yiwu from beginning of May, she was again regularly visited.
The Chinese government has always denied that Liu Xia has been placed under arrest. 2011 It was said that it was not subject to any legal restrictions. After she was no longer reachable in 2017, a government spokesman declared her absence in state media with her grief. “Liu Xia is free,” he said. At same time, he refused to testify about her whereabouts. “We want to avoid more commotion for Liu Xia. I believe that relevant authorities are protecting Liu Xia by law and law. “
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In time of house arrest, her health condition has worsened dramatically according to information from friends and relatives. They refore demanded ir departure from China for years. In Germany in particular, many prominent Chinese exiles had used Liu Xia, including Liao Yiwu, writer and Peace Prize winner of German book trade, as well as Tienchi Martin-Liao, author and president of independent Chinese Pen Centre. The lyricist Wolf Biermann and Nobel Prize laureate Herta Müller also fought for ir release.
Bror Liu Hui as “hostage”
Now that Liu Xia is free, friends also demand release of ir bror Liu Hui. He was not allowed to leave. Liu Hui is held hostage, said civil rights Hu Jia. The state security wants to silence Liu Xia also abroad. The message is, “your bror is here. You’re like a flying dragon on line. The limits of your freedom of expression are in hands of ors, “Hu Jia. The Chinese judiciary had sentenced bror 2013 to 11 years in prison. It accuses him of economic crime; Many also doubt that. The federal government criticized action against family as “political kinship.”
On Monday, Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang had visited German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin. The occasion was customs dispute with USA; But it was also about human rights situation in China. “The cooperation makes it possible to discuss controversial issues openly,” Merkel said. The Chancellor had repeatedly spoken out for release and departure of Liu Xia. However, spokesperson for Foreign Ministry stressed that departure of Liu Xia had nothing to do with visit of Premier Li Keqiang day before in Berlin. “There is no connection with current visits by important leaders,” she said.
At meeting, Chinese Prime Minister disputed that human rights situation in his country had worsened. Respect for human rights has improved considerably, he said. Work is being done to push this development furr. Li furr emphasized that he wanted to stay in conversation with Germany on subject. “We like to be ready for human rights dialogue at eye level,” he said.
