Liu Xia, widow of dissident, leaves China for Germany

Key points
  • News welcomed by rights groups who had pressed for her release from house arrest
  • Germany has been pushing China to let Liu leave following the death of her husband
Liu Xia, the wife of Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo | Photo: Reuters

Beijing: Liu Xia, widow of Chinese Nobel Peace Prize-winning political dissident Liu Xiaobo, left China for Germany on Tuesday, a friend told an agency, in news welcomed by rights groups who had pressed for her release from house arrest.

Liu Xia was on a Finnair flight bound for Helsinki that left Beijing at around 11 am, Ye Du, a writer and friend, said. Ye said he was informed of Liu's departure by her older brother.

Liu Xia had left to "start her new life" in Europe, her younger brother, Liu Hui, said on his WeChat account, according to a screenshot of the message shown by a friend who declined to be identified.

Her departure, following a year of pressure on the government from activists and international human rights organisations, comes at the end of a visit to Germany by Chinese premier Li Keqiang. He was due to leave Germany on Tuesday.

Germany has been pushing China to let Liu leave following the death of her husband on July 13, 2017, from liver cancer while in Chinese custody, Western diplomats have said.

Liu Xia, a poet and artist who suffers from depression, had been under house arrest since 2010 when Liu Xiaobo, who was sentenced to a 11-year prison term in 2009 for inciting subversion, was awarded the Peace Prize.

Johnny Lau, a political commentator based in Hong Kong, said he believed the authorities had let her leave in order to avoid her case sparking a "surge" of pressure on China around the July 13 anniversary of Liu Xiaobo's death.

"Now China has made use of an opportunity to do Germany a favour so as to strengthen the Sino-German relationship," he said.

Read more: Latest in World

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Onmanorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.