Dissident Chinese Nobel Peace Prize Winner Dies After Years in Prison Due to Cancer

Liu Xiaobo, a well-known Chinese civil rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, passed away on Thursday at the age of 61 due to liver cancer after years of imprisonment. Chinese media reports indicate that Liu was released from prison for treatment at the time of his death, but what has angered critics of the Chinese government is that his cancer was diagnosed less than a month prior to his death, when it had reached an advanced stage. During this time, Chinese officials released images of Liu showing that he was under excellent medical care and even invited American and German doctors for his treatment. Meanwhile, NPR published statements from 'Yu Jie,' Liu's biographer and friend, who believes that the Chinese government deliberately delayed Liu's treatment. Yu Jie, who resides in the United States, stated: 'Liu had become a pioneer of democracy and civil rights movements in China.' The Nobel Committee also reacted to Liu Xiaobo's death, holding the Chinese government primarily responsible for this event. Liu won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 while serving an 11-year prison sentence for attempting to overthrow the Chinese government. Born in 1955 in Changchun, northeastern China, he earned his PhD in literature from Beijing Normal University in 1988 and later worked as a researcher at Columbia University in New York. However, he returned to Beijing during the Tiananmen Square democracy movement, where he led a group hunger strike along with three other leaders of the movement. Liu was sentenced to 21 months in prison for his role in this movement, but this was not his last conviction. In 1996, after calling for the pardon of prisoners convicted for participating in protests, he was sent to a labor camp for three years. Ultimately, in 2009, he was imprisoned again for his role in drafting the political freedoms charter known as 'Charter 08,' this time for a significantly longer period. Thus, when he won the Nobel Prize, he was still in prison. Liu Xiaobo is the third Nobel laureate to receive such an honor while imprisoned.