Authorities will only allow doctors to see Liu Xiaobo in China.
Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese dissident and winner of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, continues to suffer from terminal liver cancer after being diagnosed last month. Yet instead of allowing him to leave the country to seek medical treatment, the Chinese government said it would invite German and American doctors to treat him in China.
“They will join the medical team composed of renowned Chinese oncologists to treat Liu, ” a statement from local authorities said.
“Time is running out for Liu Xiaobo, ” Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s secretary general, said Wednesday in a statement. “It is not too late for the authorities to end this cruel farce. They must let Liu Xiaobo and his wife, Liu Xia, travel abroad to get the medical treatment he so desperately needs.”
“If things continue as they are, if he is not allowed to receive better treatment, then we are just waiting for him to die, ” Hu Jia, a longtime friend of Liu’s, told The Guardian last week. “If he stays where he is, the only option is to make him comfortable with drugs to numb the pain.”
Liu’s cancer is in a late stage, according to his lawyers and family, and it’s unclear what treatment he would receive abroad.
