BEIJING - US and German medical experts who examined Chinese Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo said Sunday it was safe to transport him abroad for cancer treatment, contradicting the assertions of Chinese doctors.
The statement by the foreign physicians looked likely to add to international pressure on China to release its most prominent democracy advocate for treatment overseas.
The First Hospital of China Medical University in the northeastern city of Shenyang where Liu is being treated for late-stage liver cancer had said Saturday it was “unsafe” for him to travel due to his deteriorating condition. But American oncology expert Joseph Herman from the University of Texas’ MD Anderson Cancer Center and German doctor Markus Buchler of Heidelberg University, who visited Liu on Saturday, said otherwise.
“While a degree of risk always exists in the movement of any patient, both physicians believe Mr. Liu can be safely transported with appropriate medical evacuation care and support,” they said in a joint statement. “However, the medical evacuation would have to take place as quickly as possible.”
Their statement added that both of their respective institutions had agreed to accept Liu for treatment. Beijing has come under fire from human rights groups over its treatment of Liu and for waiting until he became terminally sick to release him from prison more than a month ago.
