US hopes to see Chinese activist treated for cancer “elsewhere”

Newly appointed US Ambassador to China Terry Branstad said on Wednesday the United States would like to see Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist Liu Xiaobo treated elsewhere for cancer, and that the two countries must work together on human rights.

Liu, 61, was jailed for 11 years in 2009 for “inciting subversion of state power” after he helped write a petition known as “Charter 08” calling for sweeping political reforms.

He is being treated in a hospital in the northern city of Shenyang for late-stage liver cancer after he was granted medical parole, his lawyer said on Monday.

Branstad said his heart went out to Liu and his wife, Liu Xia, who has been under effective house arrest since her husband won the peace prize.

“We Americans would like to see him have the opportunity for treatment elsewhere if that could be of help,” Branstad said in his first remarks to journalists in Beijing since he was confirmed in May as President Donald Trump’s top representative to China.

“And because of the relationship I have with both President Xi and President Trump, I hope I can be a go-between that can help address some of these challenging issues in the future,” he said outside the ambassador’s residence in leafy central Beijing after arriving earlier on Tuesday.

Branstad, a former Iowa governor, has been described by Beijing as an “old friend” of China. He hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping, then a county-level Communist Party leader, in Iowa in 1985, and again in 2012 when Xi was vice president.

Liu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in December 2010 for his activism in promoting human rights in China, which responded by freezing diplomatic ties with Norway. They normalized ties last December.

The prison bureau of Liaoning province said on Monday that Liu was being treated by eight “well-known tumour experts,” but Western politicians and rights activists have voiced concern about the quality of treatment.

A video of Liu Xia crying and talking about her husband’s condition was shared online late on Monday, saying doctors could not perform radiotherapy or chemotherapy.

A source close to the family said Liu was being treated using targeted therapy and that he and his wife wanted to return to Beijing for treatment, but authorities rejected their request.

The US Embassy called for Liu’s release on Tuesday, but declined to comment on whether it was speaking with China about him being transferred to the United States for treatment. The embassy said its main focus was that Liu be “released on his own recognizance.”

China has acknowledged problems of mistreatment in the criminal justice system in the past and has repeatedly vowed to crack down to address them.

Its Foreign Ministry has said other countries should respect China’s judicial sovereignty and not use individual cases to interfere in its internal affairs.

Branstad also said the United States and China need to work together on other pressing issues, such as expanding trade and the threat posed by North Korea.