page_title: Liu Xiaobo
section_title: Sino-area
hierarchical_section_title: Liu Xiaobo / Death and funeral / Reactions / Sino-area
caption_attribution_description: 中文（台灣）‎: 連日來在北京駐港機構中聯辦前設祭壇供民眾獻花及弔唁中國諾貝爾和平獎得主劉曉波的支聯會，7月15日晚發起燭光遊行悼念週四病逝的劉曉波，並強烈要求中國當局讓劉曉波的妻子劉霞真正自由。 港人燭光遊行至中聯辦悼念劉曉波（美國之音海彥拍攝）
context_page_description: Liu Xiaobo was a Chinese writer, literary critic, human rights activist, philosopher and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who called for political reforms and was involved in campaigns to end communist one-party rule in China. He was incarcerated as a political prisoner in Jinzhou, Liaoning. On 26 June 2017, he was granted medical parole after being diagnosed with liver cancer and he died on 13 July 2017.
  Liu rose to fame in literary circles in 1980s with his literary critiques and he eventually became a visiting scholar at several overseas universities. He returned to China to support the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and was imprisoned for the first time from 1989 to 1991, again from 1995 to 1996 and yet again from 1996 to 1999 for his involvement on suspicion of inciting subversion of state power. He served as the President of the Independent Chinese PEN Center, from 2003 to 2007. He was also the president of Minzhu Zhongguo magazine starting in the mid-1990s. On 8 December 2008, Liu was detained due to his participation with the Charter 08 manifesto. He was formally arrested on 23 June 2009 on suspicion of "inciting subversion of state power".
context_section_description:  People's Republic of China: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' spokesman Geng Shuang chastised foreign officials' "improper comments on Liu Xiaobo's death of illness" and said that China had lodged "stern representations" with their countries. Geng also said on 14 July that "Conferring the prize to such a person goes against the purposes of this award. It's a blasphemy of the peace prize", according to the Voice of America. But an almost identical report from Voice of America Chinese also wrote that Geng's statement could not be found from the regular press briefing's Q&A transcript posted on the ministry's website.
   Republic of China: President of the Republic of China Tsai Ing-wen pleaded with the Communist government to "show confidence in engaging in political reform so that the Chinese can enjoy the God-given rights of freedom and democracy ... The Chinese Dream is not supposed to be about military might. It should be about taking ideas like those from Liu Xiaobo into consideration. Only through democracy, in which every Chinese person has freedom and respect, can China truly become a proud and important country." In his tribute on Facebook, former ROC President and leader of the Kuomintang Ma Ying-jeou said the Chinese dream should develop proportionally on freedom and human rights. Mayor of Taipei Ko Wen-je expressed condolences.
   Tibetan Government in Exile: The 14th Dalai Lama, who himself is the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner, the Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, Khenpo Sonam Tenphel, and Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, Lobsang Sangay mourned the death of Liu. The Dalai Lama issued the following short statement on 14 July 2017, "I am deeply saddened to learn that fellow Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo has passed away while undergoing a lengthy prison sentence. I offer my prayers and condolences to his wife, Liu Xia and to other members of his family. Although he is no longer living, the rest of us can best pay honor to Liu Xiaobo by carrying forward the principles he has long embodied, which would lead to a more harmonious, stable and prosperous China. It is my belief that Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo's unceasing efforts in the cause of freedom will bear fruit before long."
caption: March in memory of Liu Xiaobo in Hong Kong
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