Liu Xiaobo's wife, Liu Xia, remains
under house arrest following his death, amidst an outpouring of sadness and praise for her husband across the globe. News of his demise was taken particularly hard in Hong Kong where supporters took to social media and to the streets.
Liu was born to intellectual but firmly communist parents in Jilin in 1955, but he was moved to Inner Mongolia during the Cultural Revolution. After middle school he returned to Jilin where he attended university and received a BA in literature in 1982. A diligent learner with a sharp mind for literary criticism, Liu quickly emerged as a rising star among China's contemporary authors. His works challenged both the underpinnings of materialism and Confucianism. As such, they were highly controversial, nigh taboo.
By 1989, armed now with a Masters and a PhD in literature, Liu had become a trusted figure in China's emboldened literary scene. He cut short a trip to America that year upon hearing news of swelling pro-democracy protests in Beijing. Workers and intellectuals alike had taken to the streets demanding change in the post-Mao era. Liu joined them and led a hunger strike on June 2, famously uttering the words "I have no enemies and no hatred". It is widely believed that his involvement helped minimise bloodshed over the following two days as tanks came crashing through Beijing. In the process, he earned the moniker
'junzi (sage) of Tiananmen Square'.
Liu was arrested for his role in the protests and served 19 months in prison. His literary works were also banned in China. But Liu continued his writing, and focused on the goal of increasing personal freedoms, particularly the right to political speech; pamphlets, petitions, essays and novels. His advocacy earned him two more stints in jail through the 90s. And despite being
offered asylum on a trip to Australia, he chose to return to China to continue his work. In 2008 he released his magnum opus; Charter 08. The book outlines a comprehensive and realistic path for China to transition from one-party rule to a democracy. Following its publication, Liu was sentenced to 11 years in prison for subversion. And there he remained until his death this past week.
The decision to award Liu the Peace Prize prompted an immediate backlash from Beijing who saw the decision as interference in China's domestic politics. The Chinese government's diplomatic corp sprang into action, threatening and cajoling countries to boycott the award ceremony. Chinese censors cut off access for foreign news services within China and expunged every mention of the award from social media.
Liu was a distinctive Nobel laureate for more than one reason. In addition to being China's first winner of the Peace Prize he was also just the third laureate to receive the award while imprisoned. That honour has been shared only by the German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky (1935) and by the longtime critic of military rule in Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi (1991). Liu is also only the second winner of the prize to die in custody: the other being Ossietzky who had died in a Nazi concentration camp.
While the Nobel committee chair Berit Reiss-Andersen laid the responsibility for Liu's death squarely
at the feet of Beijing, it is noteworthy that few national leaders have spoken out publicly. In Paris, Donald Trump marked the occasion by
praising Xi Jinping, a leader whose crackdowns target even the mildest of dissidence in China.
