bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Mimi Lau

Liu Xia, widow of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, spent her last hours in China in a secret state of chaos, excitement and disbelief that she might finally leave the home that had been her prison for eight years, according to friends.
The poet and artist left Beijing on Tuesday, and by Wednesday guards assigned to watch the entrance to her home in the downtown area of Yuyuantan were absent for the first time in years.
Liu Xia left the Chinese capital for Berlin via Helsinki, where she was photographed smiling with her arms outstretched.
LATEST: Liu Xia told not to take drugs prescribed in China
Liu Hui, her younger brother, told the South China Morning Post that he was gladdened by the image.


“When I saw that picture, I could see that she really felt relaxed so I was extremely happy for her,” he said. “After touching down, a friend who accompanied her sent me a message telling me they had landed in Berlin.
“We might speak on the phone. I don’t know how well can she cope with the time difference. I don’t want to disturb her. Let her call me.”

Liu Xia’s long-awaited release came after exhaustive negotiations, lobbying, planning and calculations by family, friends and foreign governments. To secure her freedom once and for all, the evacuation plan was so secretive that even her elder brother Liu Tong was left in the dark.
“I didn’t find out about her leaving until she had boarded the flight,” Liu Tong said on Wednesday.
Multiple sources told the Post that a new window opened for her to leave China before the end of August after an earlier arrangement to leave by April collapsed.
Liu Xia spends first night of freedom with friends in Berlin after being released by China
Liu Xia and her friends were not hopeful this time after the repeated setbacks took a heavy toll on her.
But everything changed after Liu Hui received a sudden phone call on Wednesday night from Chinese police.
“From then on everything happened within less than seven days. [Public security officials] notified us on Wednesday evening, telling us Liu Xia could apply for her passport, a visa and leave the country,” Liu Hui said.

One friend said Liu Hui did not receive his sister’s passport until Friday but a visa for Germany was swiftly arranged.
“Liu Xia was frantically packing over the weekend and Liu Hui was tasked with organising his sister’s trip, including visa, flights and other logistics,” the friend said.
“Liu Xia was only allowed a very tight schedule to bid farewell to a limited circle of friends.”
The friend said Liu Xia was still in a poor physical and psychological condition and required medical treatment. She is expected to focus on her health, with arrangement for her day-to-day needs, including housing, taken care of.
‘No coincidence’: Liu Xia released as China seeks united trade front with Germany
Another friend in Beijing who saw Liu Xia often said she was in a state of disbelief and confusion before departure.
“It was especially so in the past eight months when her life entered a terrible cycle between staying and leaving. The Chinese authorities had repeatedly promised she could leave, promising she could go in December, at Lunar New Year and at end of April this year before the last time was by the end of August,” the friend said.
“She could not believe she was finally leaving … but it was not her wish to leave China permanently.”
Liu Hui said his sister’s final hours in China were emotional.

He said she told him to be well and that they would see each other soon. Her departure came as a great relief to her family and friends as it was the last wish of her late parents and late husband that she should live free, he said.
It is understood that German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to China in May, when she met Chinese President Xi Jinping, played a critical part in securing Liu Xia’s release.
A Western diplomat told the Post that releasing Liu Xia right before the first anniversary of her husband’s death could help reduce negative coverage as other countries and media kept up pressure for her release.
Freedom for detained dissident’s widow Liu Xia after long battle with China
Berit Reiss-Andersen, chairwoman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said Liu Xia’s release was a great relief.
“It is good that Chinese authorities finally have decided to end their unjustified oppression of Liu Xia. Her inhuman ordeal should never have taken place,” Reiss-Andersen said.
“One day their sacrifice will be to the benefit of all Chinese citizens. I will also use the opportunity to thank Chancellor Angela Merkel and the German government for their unwavering support first to Liu Xiaobo, who died in captivity on 13 July 2017, and thereafter to his widow Liu Xia.”

The 57-year-old poet, painter and photographer had been under house arrest since 2010, when her husband was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while in prison. Liu Xia has never been charged with any crime.
Her condition worsened after Liu Xiaobo died aged 61 in hospital last July while serving a prison sentence for inciting subversion, becoming the second Nobel Peace Prize winner to die in custody after German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky in 1938.
Additional reporting by Choi Chi-yuk


China’s economic coercion evokes greater scrutiny and resentment, senior US officials say

To be an arts and cultural centre, Hong Kong must first make clear censorship ‘red lines’

China’s foreign minister warns against giving Hong Kong protesters Nobel Peace Prize

How Hong Kong should cope with the national security law: keep calm and carry on

Liu Xiaobo

‘Chaos and disbelief’: Liu Xia’s last hours in China before her flight to freedom

Liu Xia, widow of Chinese Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo, is ushered into a car after she arrives in Berlin on Tuesday. Photo: AP

FILE - In this Dec. 6, 2012, file photo, Liu Xia, wife of 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, poses with a photo of her and her husband during her first interview in more than two years at her home in Beijing, China. A person briefed on the matter said Tuesday, July 10, 2018, that Liu Xia, the widow of Chinese Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo, has left China for Europe after eight years under house arrest. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

An article of Liu Xia on Berlin newspaper is seen in Berlin, Germany. 11JUL18 SCMP/ Sam Tsang

View of the residential building where Liu XiaoboÕs wife Liu Xia had lived before she left for Germany in Beijing on July 11, 2018. Liu Xia left Beijing for Germany yesterday. SCMP/Simon Song

Liu Xia, the widow of Chinese Nobel dissident Liu Xiaobo, reacts as she arrives at the Helsinki International Airport in Vantaa, Finland, Tuesday, July 10, 2018. China on Tuesday allowed Liu Xia to fly to Berlin, ending an eight-year house arrest that had drawn intense international criticism and turned the 57-year old poet _ who reluctantly followed her husband into politics two decades ago _ into a tragic icon known around the world. (Jussi Nukari/ Lehtikuva via AP)

News

China

Politics

Widow of Nobel Peace Prize laureate was not hopeful that she would be able to leave the country after previous promises by the Chinese authorities fell through, friends say


Widow of Nobel Peace Prize laureate was not hopeful that she would be able to leave the country after previous promises by the Chinese authorities fell through, friends say.


Human rights in China