US calls for full parole of 61-year-old Nobel peace prize winner, who is said to be close to death in hospital in north-eastern Chinese city of Shenyang

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

American and German doctors are set to visit Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese democracy activist who has liver cancer, sources familiar with Liu’s case have said.

Three sources said at least two doctors are due to visit the 61-year-old Nobel peace prize winner in the north-eastern city of Shenyang following an invitation from the hospital treating Liu, who is under medical parole from prison. He is believed to be close to death.

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The sources did not provide more details, while the US and German embassies refused to confirm whether any foreign doctors would pay a visit this weekend.

“We are aware of reports that the medical condition of jailed Nobel peace prize laureate and writer Liu Xiaobo is rapidly deteriorating,” US embassy spokeswoman Mary Beth Polley said.

“We understand that the Chinese hospital treating Liu has invited US and German medical experts to China for consultations.

“We have asked that China grant these doctors unhindered access to Liu,” Polley said, reiterating US calls for China to grant Liu full parole.

China has faced international pressure to let Liu travel abroad for treatment since he was transferred from prison to a Shenyang hospital after he was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer more than a month ago.

The United Nations human rights office demanded on Friday that the UN be given access to Liu.

The foreign doctors’ visit come as Chinese President Xi Jinping is in Hamburg, Germany, for a G20 summit that started on Friday and ends on Saturday.

Liu was sentenced to 11 years in prison in December 2009 for “subversion” after calling for democratic reform. At the Nobel ceremony in Oslo in 2010 he was represented by an empty chair.

Friends of Liu fear that he is near death as Shenyang’s China Medical University No 1 Hospital – where he was admitted on 7 June – revealed on Thursday that his liver function had deteriorated.

A friend of Liu’s, who asked to remain anonymous due to the case’s sensitivity, said that his brother was set to visit him in hospital for the first time on Saturday.

Beijing has come under fire from human rights groups over its treatment of the activist and for waiting until he became so ill to take him out of prison, but authorities insist he has been afforded top medical care from renowned doctors.

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The hospital released details about his treatment this week, disclosing that doctors decided to stop giving him the cancer drug Sorafenib and Chinese medicine to avoid further harming his liver. The hospital said Liu had trouble eating on Friday and excess fluid was removed from his abdomen.

Hu Jia, a prominent Chinese activist, said the constant updates of Liu’s health showed the authorities “are feeling the pressure”.

“Never before in Chinese society has there been a public announcement of a person’s medical condition like this,” Hu said.

Authorities “are feeling like people see them [as] low as a rat on the street, they’re experiencing a feeling of being pointed at and reviled”.

Liu was arrested in 2008 after co-writing Charter 08, a bold petition that called for the protection of basic human rights and reform of China’s one-party Communist system.

He is also known for his efforts to help negotiate the safe exit from Beijing’s Tiananmen Square of thousands of student demonstrators on the night of 3-4 June 1989 when the military violently suppressed protests.