China’s cancer-stricken Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波) suffered respiratory failure as his condition worsened yesterday, a hospital in the Chinese city of Shenyang said, amid anger over his treatment by the authorities and control over information about his health.
The First Hospital of China Medical University said that Liu’s family declined to have him put on artificial ventilation, which was necessary “to maintain life.”
“The hospital has explained the necessity of tracheal intubation to the patient’s family; the family refused the tracheal intubation,” the hospital said on its Web site.
Photo: Reuters
The hospital, which earlier reported that he had suffered organ failure, said the 61-year-old democracy advocate’s liver function had deteriorated despite three days of anti-infection and blood treatment.
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.
Human rights groups said it was nearly impossible to obtain independent information about Liu’s health given that he is in a heavily guarded hospital and his wife, who is with him, is also not free.
“What is on display is still the manipulation and control of information and dishonesty of the Chinese government,” Human Rights Watch Asia researcher Maya Wang said.
“The couple has not been allowed to speak freely to anyone,” Wang said. “There are some reasons to continue to cast doubt on the assessment of the hospital.”
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 was admitted to the hospital early last month after he was transferred from prison due to late-stage liver cancer.
The US on Tuesday repeated calls for Liu to be released and said it was ready to welcome him if he chose to be treated there.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Geng Shuang (耿爽) yesterday repeated his standard answer that other countries should respect the nation’s judicial sovereignty and “not interfere in China’s internal affairs under the pretext of an individual case.”
“If the hospital’s information is true, Liu Xiaobo is in his last hours of life,” Amnesty International China researcher Patrick Poon (潘嘉偉) said.
“Even in his last moments, the Chinese government doesn’t seem to loosen their grip of control of Liu Xiaobo and his family,” he said.
Germany yesterday said it was ready to treat Liu and urged Beijing to let him leave the country.
German 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.”
“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 prioritize the humanitarian aspects of this case, and allow Mr Liu and his family to immediately leave the country,” he said.
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday approved proposed amendments to the Amusement Tax Act (娛樂稅法) that would abolish taxes on films, cultural activities and competitive sporting events, retaining the fee only for dance halls and golf courses. The proposed changes would set the maximum tax rate for dance halls and golf courses at 50 and 20 percent respectively, with local governments authorized to suspend the levies. Article 2 of the act says that “amusement tax shall be levied on tickets sold or fees charged by amusement places, facilities or activities” in six categories: “Cinema; professional singing, story-telling, dancing, circus, magic show, acrobatics
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
INFLATION UP? The IMF said CPI would increase to 1.5 percent this year, while the DGBAS projected it would rise to 1.68 percent, with GDP per capita of US$44,181 The IMF projected Taiwan’s real GDP would grow 5.2 percent this year, up from its 2.1 percent outlook in January, despite fears of global economic disruptions sparked by the US-Iran conflict. Taiwan’s consumer price index (CPI) is projected to increase to 1.5 percent, while unemployment would be 3.4 percent, roughly in line with estimates for Asia as a whole, the international body wrote in its Global Economic Outlook Report published in the US on Monday. The figures are comparatively better than the IMF outlook for the rest of the world, which pegged real GDP growth at 3.1 percent, down from 3.3 percent
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
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