New U.S. ambassador keen to see Chinese dissident go abroad

BEIJING, China – The new US ambassador to China said on Wednesday, June 28, he would like to see terminally-ill Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo get treatment abroad after prison officials granted him medical parole.

Ambassador Terry Branstad arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, June 27, one day after Liu’s lawyer revealed that the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize laureate had been hospitalized after being diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer in May.

Human rights groups have called on Chinese authorities to give Liu, 61, the chance to seek treatment abroad while the US embassy urged Beijing on Tuesday to let him move freely and choose his own doctors.

“Obviously our heart goes out to him and his wife and we’re interested in doing what can be done to see if it’s possible,” Branstad told a news conference at his diplomatic residence.

“We as Americans would like to see him have the opportunity to have treatment elsewhere if that is of help,” Branstad said.

Liu’s lawyer, Mo Shaoping, told Agence France-Presse that people on medical parole usually cannot leave the country, but if he was treated as a “special case” it would be possible for him to seek treatment abroad, according to Chinese law.

The writer was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2009 for “subversion” after spearheading a bold petition for democratic reforms.

China’s state-run Global Times newspaper, which is known for its nationalist and hawkish views, said that while Liu has “advocated political confrontation”, he “deserves sympathy from the humanitarian point of view.”

While Liu could “motivate more Western public opinion attacks against China” if he goes abroad, the daily added that “on the other hand, the West will have a decreasing interest in him if he leaves China.” 

Asked about the US remarks on Liu, China’s foreign ministry said Tuesday that “no country has the right to interfere and make irresponsible remarks on Chinese internal affairs”.

‘Go-between’

Branstad, the 70-year-old former governor of Iowa, was confirmed by the US Senate last month and Beijing has praised his “positive role” in Sino-US relations.

The 70-year-old has known Chinese President Xi Jinping since the mid-1980s, when the Asian leader visited Iowa as a provincial official.

“It’s important we work together as two countries to address human rights issues,” Branstad said.

“Because of the relationship I have with both President Xi and President (Donald) Trump I hope I can be a go-between between (the two countries) on these challenging issues in the future.”

His remarks came a day after the Trump administration placed China on a list of the world’s worst human trafficking offenders, a move slammed by Beijing.

It marked the first significant rebuke of China’s rights record by the Trump administration, which has avoided harsh criticism of Beijing as the president seeks to establish a working relationship over deep trade differences and North Korea’s nuclear program.

“We need to work together to deal with some of the pressing difficult issues such as the threat from North Korea,” Branstad said, adding that Beijing and Washington should “work together to denuclearize the Korean peninsula”.

Trump has pressed China to use its economic and diplomatic clout over its ally North Korea to pressure the Stalinist state over its weapons programmes, but the US leader tweeted last week that Xi’s efforts have “not worked out”.

On commerce, meanwhile, Branstad said he wanted “to look at ways to reduce trade barriers for the benefit of US and benefit of China”. – Rappler.com