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Liu Xiaobo cremated in 'private ceremony', amid fears for wife's safety Liu Xiaobo: dissident's friends angry after hastily arranged sea burial
(about 7 hours later)
The Nobel laureate and democracy icon Liu Xiaobo has been cremated in north-eastern China, Chinese authorities have announced, amid growing fears for the safety of his wife, Liu Xia. Friends of the late Nobel laureate, Liu Xiaobo, have voiced rage and disgust after the announcement that the dissident’s ashes had been cast into the ocean off north-eastern China in a hastily arranged sea burial they believe was designed to deny supporters a place of pilgrimage.
The veteran dissident died on Thursday, aged 61, becoming the first Nobel peace prize winner to die in custody since the 1935 recipient, German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky, died under surveillance after years confined to Nazi concentration camps. “This is too evil, too evil,” the exiled author Liao Yiwu, a close friend, told the Guardian after the details of Liu’s cremation and sea burial emerged on Saturday afternoon. “They are a bunch of gangsters.”
Speaking at a press conference in the city of Shenyang, where Liu died, government spokesperson Zhang Qingyang said his cremation had taken place at a local funeral parlour following a “short mourning service” early on Saturday morning. Mo Zhixu, another friend and activist, said: “The regime must be insane. They have done the worst thing you could have possibly imagined.”
“Liu’s body was cremated … in accordance with the will of his family members and local customs,” China’s official news agency, Xinhua, said in a brief dispatch. The artist Ai Weiwei said he suspected authorities had decided to bury Liu at sea to deny his supporters “a physical memorial site” at which to pay homage to him and his ideas. “It is a play,” he said. “Sad but real.”
Xinhua claimed that both family members and friends had attended the dissident’s funeral – although friends and supporters have said they were barred from travelling to Shenyang by Chinese security services. Liu died on Thursday, aged 61, becoming the first Nobel peace prize winner to die in custody since the 1935 recipient, German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky, died under surveillance after years confined to Nazi concentration camps. His death sparked a wave of condemnation, which China rejected as meddling in its “domestic affairs”.
The spokesman told reporters Liu’s wife, the poet and photographer Liu Xia, had been in attendance and had been given her husband’s ashes. She was in “very low spirits,” he added, according to AFP. Speaking at a press briefing in the city of Shenyang, where Liu died, on Saturday afternoon a government spokesman claimed the activist’s relatives had – of their own volition – taken his ashes out to sea after he was cremated early that morning.
Propaganda photos released by Chinese authorities showed mourners, including Liu Xia, gathered beside a casket that was ringed by pots of white chrysanthemums. Above what appeared to be the dead activist’s corpse a black banner read: “A farewell ceremony for Mr Liu Xiaobo”. Officials said Mozart’s Requiem was played. The official said family members had walked slowly on to the deck of the funeral company’s ship carrying white and yellow chrysanthemums and a biodegradable container which was lowered into the waters below. “They placed the urn into the vast ocean,” the spokesperson told reporters, without taking questions.
As the revered democracy activist was cremated, friends of the couple said they were growing increasingly concerned about the well-being of Liu Xia. The 56-year-old has been living under heavy surveillance and in almost total isolation since her husband won the Nobel prize, in 2010, and had hoped to leave China along with Liu Xiaobo before his death. The government’s claim that Liu’s ashes had been scattered into the sea at the family’s own request was supported by one of the Nobel laureate’s brothers, Liu Xiaoguang, who appeared at the same press briefing.
“On behalf of my family I would like to express great thanks to the Chinese Communist party and also the government because everything they have done for our family shows a high level of humanity and personal care to us,” the 68-year-old said.
He claimed the family had taken the decision to scatter Liu’s ashes into the sea partly for environmental reasons.
Friends and activists said they believed Liu Xiaoguang been coerced into addressing the media against his will.
Nicholas Bequelin, Amnesty International’s East Asia director, described the briefing as “a crude, cruel and callous political show” designed to mask Beijing’s responsibility for the death of Liu, who was diagnosed with late-stage cancer in May while serving an 11-year sentence for his role in a pro-democracy manifesto.
Sophie Richardson, Human Rights Watch’s China director, said: “It’s very hard to imagine in the current circumstances that Liu’s brother had any option to decline the authorities’ request to do this.”
Absent from the press briefing was Liu Xiaobo’s wife, the poet Liu Xia. “Ms Liu Xia is not able to come here in person due to her very weak condition,” Liu Xiaoguang said.
Earlier, China had released propaganda photographs showing Liu Xia attending her husband’s funeral and cremation on Saturday morning.
The images showed mourners, including Liu Xia, gathered beside a casket that was ringed by pots of white chrysanthemums. Above what appeared to be the dead activist’s corpse a black banner read: “A farewell ceremony for Mr Liu Xiaobo”. Officials said Mozart’s Requiem was played.
Liu Xia was also pictured, wearing black clothes and sunglasses, in photographs and video clips of the sea burial that were distributed by Chinese authorities.
Friends say they are increasingly concerned about the wellbeing of Liu Xia, who has lived under heavy surveillance and in almost total isolation since her husband won the Nobel prize in 2010. Before Liu’s death they had been attempting to leave China.
“We have lost touch with her now for three full days,” Jared Genser, a US human rights lawyer who represents her and her late husband, told the Guardian. “I’m incredibly concerned about her health and welfare.”“We have lost touch with her now for three full days,” Jared Genser, a US human rights lawyer who represents her and her late husband, told the Guardian. “I’m incredibly concerned about her health and welfare.”
China News Service, a Communist party-controlled news agency, claimed on Friday that Liu Xia was “a free woman” who was deliberately shunning her friends and relatives because she wanted to grieve in peace.China News Service, a Communist party-controlled news agency, claimed on Friday that Liu Xia was “a free woman” who was deliberately shunning her friends and relatives because she wanted to grieve in peace.
Zhang, the government spokesman, repeated those claims on Saturday as Liu’s cremation was announced. “Liu Xia is free,” he said, according to Reuters, without revealing her whereabouts. “I believe the relevant departments will protect Liu Xia’s rights according to the law,” Zhang added. On Saturday, a government spokesperson, Zhang Qingyang, repeated those claims. “Liu Xia is free,” he said, according to Reuters, without revealing her whereabouts. “I believe the relevant departments will protect Liu Xia’s rights according to the law,” Zhang added.
According to AFP, Zhang claimed Liu Xia was “emotionally grieving” and did not want “too much outside interference”.According to AFP, Zhang claimed Liu Xia was “emotionally grieving” and did not want “too much outside interference”.
Genser rejected claims that Liu Xia was free as “a sick joke”.Genser rejected claims that Liu Xia was free as “a sick joke”.
“It leaves me incredulous to think that the Chinese government would think that anybody would believe such a claim: that she is grieving and does not want to be disturbed. I mean, come on. That is just totally ridiculous.”“It leaves me incredulous to think that the Chinese government would think that anybody would believe such a claim: that she is grieving and does not want to be disturbed. I mean, come on. That is just totally ridiculous.”
Genser added: “We all know the truth. The truth is clear as day. She has been under house arrest without charge or trial for seven years and even after her husband is dead that appears not to be good enough for the Chinese government.”Genser added: “We all know the truth. The truth is clear as day. She has been under house arrest without charge or trial for seven years and even after her husband is dead that appears not to be good enough for the Chinese government.”
Meanwhile friends contradicted official claims that Liu Xiaobo’s friends had been permitted to attend his funeral. Activist Hu Jia said he did not know of a single friend who had been able to go. Meanwhile friends contradicted official claims that Liu’s friends had been permitted to attend his funeral. Activist Hu Jia said he did not know of a single friend who had been able to go.
Shang Baojun, a Chinese lawyer who represented Liu Xiaobo and was his friend, said he had not attended the funeral. “I know nothing about it,” he said by phone, before explaining that it was “not convenient” to talk – a common expression in China indicating that someone is coming under pressure from authorities to stay silent. Shang Baojun, a Chinese lawyer who represented Liu and was his friend, said he had not attended the funeral. “I know nothing about it,” he said by phone, before explaining that it was “not convenient” to talk – a common expression in China indicating that someone is coming under pressure from authorities to stay silent.
Writing on Twitter, Mo Zhixu, another activist and friend, said he had not recognised any friends of the Lius in the photographs released by the government. “The party-state cannot even be bothered to be halfhearted about their acting in this play,” he wrote. The Global Times, a Communist party-controlled tabloid, chose to mark Liu’s cremation with a vicious personal assault. “He was paranoid, naive and arrogant,” the newspaper said in an English-language editorial. “Chinese society opposes and despises him.
The Global Times, a Communist party controlled tabloid, chose to mark Liu’s cremation with a vicious personal assault. “He was paranoid, naive and arrogant,” the newspaper said in an English-language editorial. “Chinese society opposes and despises him.
“Deification of Liu by the west will be eventually overshadowed by China’s denial of him,” it added, branding the Nobel laureate “a disruptive player to China’s development theme”.“Deification of Liu by the west will be eventually overshadowed by China’s denial of him,” it added, branding the Nobel laureate “a disruptive player to China’s development theme”.
Genser called for international pressure to help Liu Xia “escape this Kafkaesque nightmare that has been her life”.Genser called for international pressure to help Liu Xia “escape this Kafkaesque nightmare that has been her life”.
“My heart breaks for her. It is just terrible. We have to get her out. We can’t live in a world in which she is not free,” he said.“My heart breaks for her. It is just terrible. We have to get her out. We can’t live in a world in which she is not free,” he said.
Additional reporting by Wang ZhenAdditional reporting by Wang Zhen