The dissident was moved from prison to be treated for cancer last month, and his situation is now life threatening, his hospital in China says.
HONG KONG — The health of the Chinese Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo is worsening, with his liver, kidney and breathing functions failing, the hospital that is treating him said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
Mr. Liu, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison for organizing a pro-democracy manifesto, was told he had late-stage liver cancer in May and moved to a hospital in the northeast Chinese city of Shenyang.
The First Hospital of China Medical University said Wednesday that doctors had recommended tracheal intubation but that his family had rejected the request.
Mr. Liu’s family could not be independently reached for confirmation of his condition. His wife, Liu Xia, has been under strict house arrest since he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2010. Photos apparently released by the hospital authorities show her with her husband in the hospital.
Mr. Liu, 61, has said he wanted to be treated abroad, but his lawyer said the authorities would not let that happen. Doctors from the United States and Germany visited Mr. Liu on Saturday and said then that he could be moved, but his condition has apparently worsened.
The German Embassy in Beijing complained this week about the release of recordings of the doctors’ visit to state media outlets for propaganda purposes.
