Joy for Liu Xia, widow of Nobel winner Liu Xiaobo, as she arrives in Germany
The 57-year-old poet and artist left Beijing on Tuesday morning aboard a Finnair flight, friends say
Liu Xia, the widow of Chinese Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, landed in Berlin via Helsinki on Tuesday after she was finally allowed to leave China for Germany, ending a near eight-year ordeal of house arrest.
Her release – sought for years by Western governments and activists – came after repeated diplomatic efforts by Germany and just three days before the first anniversary of her husband’s death in custody from liver cancer.
The 57-year-old poet and artist appeared exhilarated touching down at Helsinki Airport hours after she left Beijing. All smiles in her grey cardigan, she was photographed with her arms wide open, embracing her first taste of freedom after years of round-the-clock surveillance.
China’s foreign ministry confirmed Liu’s departure on Tuesday afternoon, saying she had gone to Germany to “treat her illness according to her wishes”.
Though never charged with any crime, Liu had been under house arrest since her late husband was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 while in prison, an ordeal that plunged her into clinical depression.