WASHINGTON (AP) – The death of Liu Xiaobo is a catastrophic loss for China and the entire world, and his contributions to human rights should never be forgotten, members of Congress said during a hearing Friday that turned into a memorial for China’s most prominent political prisoner.
Liu died Thursday of liver cancer after spending nearly nine years in custody. A House hearing had been scheduled to examine his health and detention. The news of his passing the day before prompted praise for his life’s work in advancing liberty and due process as well as condemnation of the Chinese government for its treatment of Liu and his wife, Liu Xia.
“No nation should be judged entirely by crimes of the past, but this crime, the death and silencing of Liu Xiaobo, should follow the Chinese Community Party like an unwashable, permanent stain,” said Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations.
Two pictures were positioned prominently in the hearing room – one of Liu and the other of an empty chair with his Nobel Peace Prize placed where he would have been sitting if he had been allowed to attend the 2010 ceremony. Liu was serving an 11-year sentence for incitement to subvert state power. He died at the age of 61.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Smith noted that they had attended the award ceremony. Pelosi called Liu “one of the great moral voices of our time.”