U.S. hopes to see Chinese
activist Liu treated for cancer 'elsewhere'
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[June 28, 2017]
By Michael Martina
BEIJING (Reuters) - Newly appointed U.S.
Ambassador to China Terry Branstad said on Wednesday the United States
would like to see Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist Liu Xiaobo treated
elsewhere for cancer, and that the two countries must work together on
human rights.
Liu, 61, was jailed for 11 years in 2009 for "inciting subversion of
state power" after he helped write a petition known as "Charter 08"
calling for sweeping political reforms.
He is being treated in a hospital in the northern city of Shenyang for
late-stage liver cancer after he was granted medical parole, his lawyer
told Reuters on Monday.
Branstad said his heart went out to Liu and his wife, Liu Xia, who has
been under effective house arrest since her husband won the peace prize.
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"We Americans would like to see him have the opportunity for treatment
elsewhere if that could be of help," Branstad said in his first remarks
to journalists in Beijing since he was confirmed in May as President
Donald Trump's top representative to China.
"And because of the relationship I have with both President Xi and
President Trump, I hope I can be a go-between that can help address some
of these challenging issues in the future," he said outside the
ambassador's residence in leafy central Beijing after arriving earlier
on Tuesday.
Branstad, a former Iowa governor, has been described by Beijing as an
"old friend" of China. He hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping, then a
county-level Communist Party leader, in Iowa in 1985, and again in 2012
when Xi was vice president.
Liu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in December 2010 for his activism
in promoting human rights in China, which responded by freezing
diplomatic ties with Norway. They normalized ties last December.
The prison bureau of Liaoning province said on Monday that Liu was being
treated by eight "well-known tumour experts", but Western politicians
and rights activists have voiced concern about the quality of treatment.
A video of Liu Xia crying and talking about her husband's condition was
shared online late on Monday, saying doctors could not perform
radiotherapy or chemotherapy.
A source close to the family said Liu was being treated using targeted
therapy and that he and his wife wanted to return to Beijing for
treatment but authorities rejected their request.
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![](../images/062817pics/busine17.jpg)
Newly appointed U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad speaks to
the media in front of his residence in Beijing, China June 28, 2017.
REUTERS/Thomas Peter
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The U.S. Embassy called for Liu's release on Tuesday but declined to comment on
whether it was speaking with China about him being transferred to the United
States for treatment. The embassy said its main focus was that Liu be "released
on his own recognizance".
Patrick Poon, a researcher at Amnesty International, told Reuters late on
Tuesday that he had been authorized by several people close to the family to say
that Liu Xia had told Chinese authorities she wants her husband to receive
medical treatment abroad.
Chinese state-run newspaper the Global Times, published by the official People's
Daily, said there was a precedent for prisoners on medical parole to be allowed
overseas for treatment, but that as a Nobel Laureate Liu "could motivate more
Western public opinion attacks against China than other dissidents".
"If he is willing to go abroad, that is perhaps partly out of the despair he
feels from being marginalized by Chinese society and constitutional order," the
newspaper said.
China has acknowledged problems of mistreatment in the criminal justice system
in the past and has repeatedly vowed to crack down to address them. It has also
said other countries should not use individual cases to interfere in China's
internal affairs.
"Liu Xiaobo is a Chinese citizen. Why should there be discussions with other
countries about the issue of a Chinese citizen who is serving his sentence?"
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters at a regular briefing
when asked about Branstad's remarks.
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Lu said he believed the ambassador was "very clear about his duties" to increase
mutual understanding and political trust.
(This story corrects translation of ministry spokesman's comments in penultimate
paragraph to "serving his sentence" not "in a bad way")
(Reporting by Michael Martina; Additional reporting by Venus Wu in Hong Kong and
Ben Blanchard in Beijing; Editing by Paul Tait)
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