Exclusive | Germany, US renew calls for release of Liu Xiaobo’s widow from house arrest
But observers say it is unlikely Liu Xia’s situation will change any time soon
Germany and the United States have renewed calls for Liu Xia, widow of China’s most prominent human rights dissident Liu Xiaobo, to be released from house arrest and allowed to travel overseas, as hopes fade that she will be able to leave the country.
The 57-year-old has been under house arrest since 2010, but has never been charged with any offence by the Chinese authorities.
Overseas appeals for her release peaked in July last year after her husband, a Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2010, died of liver cancer in custody.
The calls from Germany and the US are the first from Western governments in more than six months, after speculation in January that Liu might be permitted to leave China soon.
“We are hoping for a swift, positive conclusion of her case,” Germany’s ambassador to China, Michael Clauss, told the South China Morning Post in an exclusive interview.
“We hope that Liu Xia can finally enjoy freedom of movement and to travel wherever she desires. This has been a continuously stated concern of Germany for a long time already, just like the fact that she is welcomed to Germany if that remains her wish,” Clauss said.