BEIJING (AP) – A friend of imprisoned Chinese Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo said Monday that he doubts the government’s claims that the ailing dissident is too sick to leave the country in part because of a video in which Liu is described as being in “acceptable” condition.
Whether Liu is able to travel is a key question in negotiations for his possible release from a Chinese hospital. The U.S. and European Union have been calling on Beijing to allow China’s most famous political prisoner, recently diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer, to choose where he wants to be treated.
Shang Baojun, Liu’s former lawyer, has said Chinese officials have told Liu’s family members that his health was so poor that he could not travel.
Liu’s friend Hu Jia, a political dissident, said Monday a video that emerged on YouTube over the weekend appeared to indicate that Liu was in stable condition. Medical experts were seen saying that Liu’s treatment plan was going smoothly.
“Currently, his situation is acceptable,” an unidentified male doctor in a white coat was seen saying in the video, which did not include any images of Liu and was dated Wednesday.