The US yesterday joined calls for the release of prominent Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波), but China warned against any foreign interference in the case.
“The US government is deeply disturbed by reports that Liu Xiaobo has been formally arrested and charged with serious crimes,” said Richard Buangan, a spokesman for the US embassy in Beijing. “We call on the government of China to release Mr Liu and respect the rights of all Chinese citizens who peacefully express their desire for internationally recognized freedoms.”
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, speaking in Washington, had earlier called for international condemnation of the arrest, calling Liu “courageous.”
Liu, 53, was arrested for inciting “subversion of the government and the overthrow of the socialist system,” Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday, citing Beijing police. Authorities have not yet directly confirmed the arrest.
But China rejected foreign pressure over the case.
“Foreign countries should respect China’s judicial sovereignty,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang (秦剛) told Agence France-Presse in a faxed statement.
“We firmly oppose anyone’s wrong remarks and deeds that interfere in China’s internal affairs by any means,” he said.
Liu, jailed previously for his involvement in the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement that was crushed by the army, has long campaigned through his writing for democracy and the rule of law in China.
He had been detained since December after signing Charter 08, a manifesto signed by hundreds of intellectuals, scholars and dissidents that called for political and legal reforms and respect for human rights in China.
Mo Shaoping (莫少平), another Charter 08 signatory and Liu’s lawyer, said that police told him yesterday he could not represent Liu, but they would not confirm whether this was because of his signing the manifesto.
Two other lawyers working for Mo would now represent Liu, whom they hoped to meet today, he said.
Mo said arresting people on the basis of Charter 08 involvement would make China “the laughing stock of the whole world.”
Liu’s wife Liu Xia (劉霞), who last saw her husband on March 20 in a supervised visit, said she saw little hope for his release soon.
“For the moment, I cannot see any hope, given the seriousness of the crime he is accused of,” she said by telephone.
Activists and rights groups strongly condemned Liu’s arrest.
Taiwan’s opposition yesterday also called for Liu’s immediate release, urging Beijing to heed calls for democratic reform.
“We solemnly call upon the Chinese government to release Liu Xiaobo immediately,” the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said in a statement issued in English.
“The Chinese government should face up to these demands from the public for democratic reform,” instead of suppressing them, trying to “control and use intimidation” against members of the democratic reform movement, it said.
When asked to comment on the matter, a spokesman for President Ma Ying-jeou said: “We are concerned about all human rights issues,” without elaborating.
Ties between China and Taiwan have improved dramatically since the Beijing-friendly Ma was inaugurated last year.
Ding Zilin (丁子霖), a retired Chinese professor whose son was killed in the 1989 crackdown, said in a statement released by New York-based Human Rights in China that Liu’s arrest showed the government had “shut tight the door to so-called ‘political reform.’”
Brad Adams, Asia director of New York-based Human Rights Watch, said the arrest indicated a “political hardening” by China.
“But it also misses an opportunity to show the outside world that the government is confident enough to tolerate thoughtful and peaceful domestic criticism,” he said in an e-mailed statement.
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