China releases widow of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo for medical treatment
The 57-year-old poet has been under house arrest since 2010 but never been charged with a crime by Chinese prosecutors.
Tuesday 10 July 2018 11:50, UK
The widow of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo has been allowed to leave China to seek medical treatment in Germany.
Liu Xia, who has been under house arrest since 2010, left China to receive "medical treatment according to her own will", foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.
Western governments and activists have urged China to release the 57-year-old, who has never been charged with a crime.
Ms Liu was placed under house arrest days after her late husband was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize - an honour which infuriated the Chinese government.
Mr Liu, a writer and human rights activist, was given the award for his "long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China."
He was sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment on charges of inciting subversion of state power.
Mr Liu died of liver cancer last July while under government custody, prompting fresh international calls for his wife's release.
Ms Liu, a painter and poet, was arrested and had her mobile phone deactivated when she visited her husband during his fourth prison term.
She was cut off from friends and family at her home in Beijing, with guards preventing a Sky crew from visiting.
Following her husband's death in July 2017, Ms Liu's whereabouts were unknown for six months, although the Chinese government claimed she was "free".
She was reported to have returned to her Beijing home by September 2017.