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Nobel peace prize winner Liu Xiaobo died in Chinese custody today. Liu was serving an eleven year sentence for his involvement in a pro-democracy manifesto called Charter 08 which calls for an independent legal system, freedom of association and the elimination of one-party rule in China.
In May, Liu was diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer. Last month, this Nobel Laurette received medical parole and was moved into a hospital in northeastern China. He was received treatment in an isolated armed surrounded by armed guards.
Liu is the first Nobel peace prize winner to die in custody since German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky, the 1935 recipient, died in a German concentration camp.
Xiaobo passed away today from liver cancer.
He was known for his very western-beliefs. Liu said in an interview that, “Modernization means whole-sale westernization, choosing a human life is choosing Western way of life. Difference between Western and Chinese governing system is humane vs in-humane, there’s no middle ground… Westernization is not a choice of a nation, but a choice for the human race.”
In 2010, Xiaobo was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for “his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.”
Liu championed the use of non-violent strategies to challenge oppressive regimes.
