China must immediately free Liu Xiaobo, the country's most famous political prisoner and Nobel Laureate, or face global scorn for refusing the best treatment for a dying man in his last days, his attorney and activists warn.
The Chinese government for weeks has denied Liu's request to receive liver cancer treatment abroad, arguing the travel would further jeopardize his health. However, two doctors—one American and one German—visited Liu this weekend and afterward said he could be safely transported abroad and recommended that he receive other treatment, including radiotherapy.
The doctors issued a joint statement saying that the additional treatments in either the United States or Germany could extend Liu's life by several weeks and reduce the pain that he feels during his remaining days.
Jared Genser, Liu's attorney, said the doctors' recommendations present Chinese President Xi Jinping with a stark choice.
"If President Xi now decides he wants to keep Liu Xiaobo in China and silenced, he will have to do so in the full view of the world knowing he is intentionally hastening his death, he is personally deciding that Liu Xiaobo will suffer more pain, and he is refusing to honor the wishes of a dying man to receive the treatment he desires," Genser said Sunday in a statement.
The doctors, Dr. Joseph Herman of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Dr. Markus Büchler of the University of Heidelberg met Saturday with Liu at the No. 1 Hospital of China Medical University. They acknowledged the good quality of care Liu had been receiving from Chinese medics and agreed with the diagnosis of primary liver cancer. They recommended that Liu receive palliative supportive care and suggested other options, including "interventional procedures and radiotherapy."
"Liu Xiaobo and his family have requested that the remainder of his care be provided in Germany or the United States," the doctors said. "While a degree of risk always exists in the movement of any patient, both physicians believe Mr. Liu can be safely transported with appropriate medical evacuation care and support."
"However, the medical evaluation would have to take place as quickly as possible," they said, adding that both of their hospitals are ready to offer Liu the "best care possible."
Nicholas Bequelin, Amnesty International's East Asia director, said Sunday that the doctors' recommendations showed that China was lying when it said that Liu was too sick to travel. He demanded that Xi immediately allow Liu to be flown overseas for treatment.
Chinese authorities released Liu, 61, on medical parole in late June after he was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer.
He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 while serving an 11-year prison sentence for his pro-democracy writings. Chinese authorities prohibited Liu's family from attending the ceremony in Norway, and officials placed the medal and diploma on an empty chair in their absence.