NOBEL PEACE PRIZE LAUREATE LIU XIAOBO DIES AT 61|諾貝爾和平獎得主劉曉波病逝 享壽61歲

On July 13, Liu Xiaobo, who was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize while imprisoned for advocating democracy and human rights, died at the age of 61, at a hospital in China. In the weeks leading up to his death, his case became mired in international controversy. Several Western countries urged China to allow Liu to leave the country to seek palliative care elsewhere. Unfortunately, yesterday in a brief statement, Shenyang local officials said that Liu had suffered multiple organ failure and that efforts to save him had failed. The international community paid sincere tribute to Liu and at the same time excoriated China for its treatment of him. Liu was among the first students to attend Jilin University and study Chinese literature when college entrance examinations resumed after the Cultural Revolution. He was very successful in his career, getting a PhD and working as a lecturer in Beijing. However, in his literary criticism, Liu upheld the individualistic concept of aesthetic freedom. This became the basis for his espousal of human rights and democracy. ==WU'ER KAIXI, exiled Chinese dissident and Liu Xiaobo's former student== I would like to take this opportunity to assure the Chinese communist party that we are not giving up, and we are not afraid, and that's how we're going to remember my teacher, my mentor, my best friend. Liu was a visiting scholar at Columbia University, the University of Oslo, and the University of Hawaii. He was at Columbia University when the May 1989 democracy demonstrations started in Beijing. He returned to join the movement and from then on was regarded by the CCP as a threat. Liu was imprisoned for two years for the demonstrations, the first of four stays in prison in 1995, 1996 and 2009 for his beliefs. ==NICHOLAS BEQUELIN, East Asia Regional Director, Amnesty International== Amnesty International is shocked by the disgraceful way in which the Chinese government has handled Liu Xiaobo's final days, denying him freedom and the ability to seek medical treatment abroad. The international community must stand up and act to avoid the same kind of failure that we have seen with Liu Xiaobo. His final prison sentence of 11 years was for co-authoring Charter '08, a document that called for freedom of expression, human rights and an independent judiciary. ==STEPHANE DUJARRIC Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General António Guterres== The Secretary-General was deeply saddened to learn that Mr. Liu Xiaobo, the noble prize laureate had passed away, He extends his condolences to his family and to his friends. Liu's wife, artist and poet Liu Xia, was put under house arrest when Liu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. ==HEATHER NAUERT, US State Department spokesperson== Our heartfelt condolences go out to his wife, Liu Xia and all of his loved ones. We continue to call on the Chinese government to release her from house arrest and allow her to depart China according to her wishes. It remains to be seen if the international outcry will have any effect on China's persecution of human rights activists. TRANSLATED BY：CLARE LEAR