Writers urge China to release Liu Xia, widow of jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner
More than 50 famous writers sign letter to President Xi Jinping calling for release of Liu Xiaobo’s wife from house arrest. She has been detained for seven years without charge
More than 50 celebrated American and international literary figures have written a joint letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping appealing to his “sense of conscience” to release Liu Xia, the widow of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo.
Liu Xia, a poet, painter and photographer, has been under house arrest in China since 2010 despite never having been charged with any crime.
She was last seen in public on July 15 when she took part in a memorial service for her husband, two days after he died of cancer. Friends, journalists and diplomats have all been prevented from meeting her. She is reported to be suffering from depression and a heart condition, the letter said.
The 52 writers who appealed for her release, in an open letter organised by PEN America, a group set up to advance literature and defend free expression, include Philip Roth, Paul Auster, Chimamanda Adichie, Louise Erdrich, John Coetzee, Margaret Atwood, Anne Tyler and Tom Stoppard.
They called for her release in recognition of China’s international obligations, including as a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and its own constitution that guarantees freedom of speech and other rights.
“We also appeal to your conscience and your sense of compassion,” they wrote to President Xi. “Liu Xia has undergone great suffering for many years, simply for being the wife of a man that China has deemed to be a dissident. She has committed no crime and she has not been charged with any crime.”