Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo dies

Chinese human rights advocate died promoting a pro-democracy charter that led to an 11-year prison sentence and his death under guard

170713_Liu Xiabo

Nobel Prize-winning Liu Xiaobo has died while fighting liver cancer in a northeast China hospital, still captive of the authoritarian government he battled for much of his life.

The renegade Chinese intellectual was serving an 11-year prison term for "inciting subversion of state power" by assisting in the writing of a petition calling for political reform. He had kept vigil on Tiananmen Square in 1989 to protect protesters from encroaching soldiers.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The 61-year-old had recently been moved from prison to a hospital in the northeast city of Shenyang. The bureau of justice of Shenyang announced his death on their website today, Reuters reports.

While imprisoned, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China".

Liu "will remain a powerful symbol for all who fight for freedom, democracy and a better world", the Nobel Peace Prize committee leader Berit Reiss-Andersen said today.

Explore More