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Liu Xiaobo supporters mark his death amid concerns for widow

A plainclothes security official approaches journalists outside an apartment complex where Liu Xia, widow of late Chinese Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, lives in Beijing, Wednesday, July 18, 2017. Supporters of Liu Xiaobo are gathering worldwide to mark the traditional Chinese observance of the seventh day after his death. However, in a leafy apartment complex in west Beijing, more than a dozen men have been holding an around-the-clock vigil with a different purpose altogether: keeping visitors and journalists away from the home Liu shared with his wife, Liu Xia. (AP Photo/Gerry Shih)
A plainclothes security official approaches journalists outside an apartment complex where Liu Xia, widow of late Chinese Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, lives in Beijing, Wednesday, July 18, 2017. Supporters of Liu Xiaobo are gathering worldwide to mark the traditional Chinese observance of the seventh day after his death. However, in a leafy apartment complex in west Beijing, more than a dozen men have been holding an around-the-clock vigil with a different purpose altogether: keeping visitors and journalists away from the home Liu shared with his wife, Liu Xia. (AP Photo/Gerry Shih) A plainclothes security official approaches journalists outside an apartment complex where Liu Xia, widow of late Chinese Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, lives in Beijing, Wednesday, July 18, 2017. Supporters of Liu Xiaobo are gathering worldwide to mark the traditional Chinese observance of the seventh day after his death. However, in a leafy apartment complex in west Beijing, more than a dozen men have been holding an around-the-clock vigil with a different purpose altogether: keeping visitors and journalists away from the home Liu shared with his wife, Liu Xia. (AP Photo/Gerry Shih)

By Associated Press 4 min read

BEIJING (AP) – Supporters of Liu Xiaobo gathered worldwide Wednesday to mark the traditional Chinese observance of the seventh day after the imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate’s death, amid growing concern over the fate of his widow, Liu Xia, who has been kept under house arrest for more than seven years.

As Liu’s supporters prepared for memorials, more than a dozen men have been holding an around-the-clock vigil in a leafy apartment complex in west Beijing with a different purpose altogether: keeping visitors and journalists away from the home Liu shared with Liu Xia.

Though never charged, Liu Xia was kept guarded and isolated in the apartment while her husband was serving an 11-year sentence on charges of incitement to subvert government power.

Last seen in official photos showing her lowering an urn containing her husband’s ashes into the sea on Saturday, her whereabouts Wednesday were unknown. Numerous foreign governments and rights groups have demanded China lift all restrictions on her movements.

Tienchi Martin-Liao, the president of the Independent Chinese PEN Center and a close family friend based in Cologne, Germany, said there were rumors that Liu Xia has been forced by authorities to take a “vacation” in the southwestern province of Yunnan, where she has friends. Liu Xia and her close circle of confidants in China have gone quiet, Martin-Liao said.