Dalai Lama urges best possible treatment for paroled Chinese Nobel Peace laureate

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Chinese Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo.
Chinese Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo.

(TibetanReview.net, Jul01, 2017) The Dalai Lama has on Jun 28 expressed sadness over the fact that Chinese Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo, though released on parole, was in “such poor health”, but hoped he will now be provided with “the best possible medical treatment available” and that it will be a success.

“I was filled with joy to hear that fellow Nobel Peace Laureate Liu Xiaobo had been released from prison, and then filled with sadness to learn that he is in such poor health,” the 1989 Nobel Peace laureate said in a message released in Ladakh region of Indias Jammu & Kashmir state where he is on a month-long religious teaching tour.

The message said: “Liu Xiaobo is one of Chinas most prominent prisoners of conscience. It is my belief that the initiatives he took, and for which he has been severely punished, would have led to a more harmonious, stable and prosperous China, which in turn would have contributed to a more peaceful world. I was personally moved as well as encouraged when hundreds of Chinese intellectuals and concerned citizens, inspired by Liu Xiaobo, signed Charter 08 calling for democracy, freedom and rule of law in China.”

Liu was reported to be suffering from terminal liver cancer, which means it is very difficult to treat under the known standard courses of treatment. Nevertheless, the Dalai Lama was hopeful. He said, “I hope that Liu Xiaobo will now be provided with the best medical treatment available and offer prayers that it will be a success.”

Liu, now 61, was a co-author of Charter 08, a six-page political manifesto which called for 19 changes to be made to China’s government, including the elimination of the one-party rule. It was initially signed by over 350 Chinese intellectuals and human rights activists. Many of them were prominent citizens inside and outside the government, including lawyers; Tibetan poet and essayist, Woeser; and Bao Tong, a former senior Communist Party official, who all faced a risk of arrest and jail. It was published on Dec 10, 2008, the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopting name and style from the anti-Soviet Charter 77 issued by dissidents in Czechoslovakia. After its online release, more than 10,000 people inside and outside China signed the charter.

Liu Xiaobo was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize but by that time he was in jail and China not only did not allow him to attend the award ceremony but also put diplomatic relations with Norway in a freeze which continued for six years.

After being in detention for a year, Liu was tried and sentenced, in Dec 2009, to an 11-year jail term in a two-hour trial. He was convicted for inciting subversion of state power.

Liu was granted medical parole on Jun 26, after being diagnosed with terminal liver cancer back in May. He is reportedly being treated at a hospital in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang. His wife, Liu Xia,

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