Liu Xia (劉霞), the widow of Chinese Nobel dissident Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波) who had been under de facto house arrest in China, left the country yesterday en route to Germany, according to friends.
Despite facing no charges, the 57-year-old poet had endured heavy restrictions on her movements since 2010 when her husband won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Friends said she was on board a Finnair flight to Helsinki on her way to Berlin, a move that came just days before the first anniversary of her husband’s death from liver cancer.
Berlin-based dissident Liao Yiwu (廖亦武), who was expected to welcome her in the German capital later yesterday, voiced his joy on Twitter, saying: “I am so, so, so happy! Finally, finally, Xia is coming today!!”
Liu had become a cause celebre and was seen as a test case for China’s attitude to human rights, with activists and foreign powers urging Beijing to allow her to leave the country.
Her husband, a veteran of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, died last year while serving an 11-year jail sentence for “subversion.”
In an emotional telephone call with her friend Liao recently, Liu said: “They should add a line to the constitution: ‘Loving Liu Xiaobo is a serious crime — it’s a life sentence.’”
Speaking to reporters before her departure, close friend Ye Du (野渡) said Liu Xia was suffering from “very severe” depression, adding that she would “sometimes faint” and was taking medicine to sleep.
Another friend who has spoken to her several times said she was in “bad shape, physically and psychologically.”
She was finally given a passport last week, said the friend who did not wish to be named.
Chinese authorities had consistently maintained Liu was free, but imposed severe restrictions on her movement and placed her under constant surveillance.
In May, several foreign diplomats who tried to visit her at her apartment amid concerns over her health were denied access.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying (華春瑩) said that Liu’s travel to Germany for medical treatment was “of her own free will.”
In Hong Kong, pro-democracy activists celebrated at a memorial to Liu Xiaobo adorned with the couple’s pictures.
“I’m in a sea of joy,” veteran activist “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung (梁國雄) said.
Liu Xia’s departure comes a day after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (李克強) met German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, although a Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman denied any “association or link between this incident and the visit.”
Merkel has spoken out frequently on Chinese human rights abuses and is believed to have pushed for Liu’s release during her May visit to Beijing, where she met the wives of detained human rights lawyers.
However, analysts pointed to the forthcoming anniversary of her husband’s death as a reason for the timing.
“Perhaps the Chinese government realized that as the anniversary of Liu Xiaobo’s death approaches, keeping his widow under house arrest simply shows the Chinese to be petty, cruel and vindictive — not the image it’s trying to project to the world,” Elaine Pearson of Human Rights Watch said.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from