BEIJING (AP) – China’s ailing Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo’s health is further deteriorating as abdominal fluid accumulates, said a friend and the Chinese hospital that is treating him, adding to concerns about the long-term prognosis of the country’s best-known political prisoner.
The First Hospital of China Medical University said in a statement that the doctor heading a medical team in charge of Liu’s treatment has informed his family of this development. The statement appeared Thursday on the website of the hospital in the northeastern city of Shenyang but is undated.
A family friend confirmed on Thursday that Liu’s family had been asked to be on standby in the hospital over the next 24 hours – which they took as a sign that Liu is critically ill.
“We are worried about whether we should start planning for what to do after he leaves,” said family friend Wu Yangwei, who is better known by his penname Ye Du.
Liu was diagnosed in May while serving a 11-year sentence for inciting subversion by advocating sweeping political reforms that would end China’s one-party rule. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010, a year after his conviction.