Shenyang, China (AFP) — The Chinese hospital caring for cancer-stricken Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo has decided to invite United States, German and other foreign experts to treat him in China following international pressure to let him go abroad.
The legal bureau of Shenyang — the northeastern city where Liu is being treated — said in a statement Wednesday the invitation was made “at the request” of Liu’s family.
China has faced global calls to give the democracy campaigner the option to get treatment abroad since it emerged last month that he was transferred from prison to a hospital after he was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer.
Beijing has come under fire from human rights groups over its treatment of Liu and for waiting until the Nobel Peace Prize winner became terminally sick to take him out of prison.
But authorities have insisted that the 61-year-old has been getting top-notch care from prominent Chinese cancer doctors at China Medical University No 1 Hospital in Shenyang.
AFP reporters saw several police officers stationed inside the hospital. Nurses at the oncology ward, however, said they could not find Liu’s name in the computer system.
Liu was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2009 for “subversion” after calling for democratic reform. He was awarded the Nobel in 2010, with an empty chair representing him at the ceremony in Oslo.