AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL & PEN AMERICA JOINT PRESS RELEASE
Troubling Reports of Liu Xia’s Worsening Health Condition Stir Immediate Action from Artists and Activists
NEW YORK—Dozens of celebrated writers, poets, and artists have called for the lifting of all restrictions on Chinese poet and artist Liu Xia, held under illegal house arrest without charge since October 2010.
This show of literary solidarity comes following revelations about Liu Xia’s declining health, which she revealed in April during a harrowing phone conversation with friend and exiled writer Liao Yiwu.
Rita Dove, Paul Auster, JM Coetzee, Khaled Hosseini, Hu Ping, and Michael Chabon are among the group of writers who have read excerpts of Liu Xia’s poetry as part of a video campaign advocating for her freedom.
Khaled Hosseini, author of the Kite Runner, said: [I support this campaign for Liu Xia] as artists who are free to speak must do so on behalf of other artists whose voices are being stifled.”
The excerpts celebrate some of Liu Xia’s most powerful works while calling on the Chinese government to end their cruel campaign of retaliation against her for her late husband Liu Xiaobo’s calls for democratic reform.
During the phone call with writer and friend Liao Yiwu released on 2 May Liu Xia, who suffers from depression, said she was “prepared to die” under house arrest.
Suzanne Nossel, PEN America Chief Executive Officer, said: “Liu Xia’s cry for freedom resonates around the world and rebukes the Chinese government’s hollow claim that she is free.
“As efforts to allow Liu Xia to travel abroad for medical treatment stall, literary and human rights communities renew and amplify their call to release a poet who has been accused of no crime.
“We are proud to stand with Liu Xia’s literary peers to celebrate her work, and challenge the Chinese government’s relentless campaign to erase her voice.”
Lisa Tassi, East Asia Campaigns Director at Amnesty International, said: “The Chinese government’s efforts to silence Liu Xia are despicably cruel. Liu Xia’s poetry inspires so many who are now united in calling for her to be free.”
Liu Xia has been under illegal house arrest since Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010. She is still closely monitored by state security agents and can only be reached by her closest friends by phone in limited circumstances.
She has also been moved from her home in Beijing and held incommunicado for periods of time following the death of Liu Xiaobo in July 2017, with unverified clips appearing periodically on YouTube showing her in various locations in Beijing and Yunnan province.
Liu Xia is known to be in poor health, and suffers from severe depression, but has been prevented from travelling abroad to seek treatment.
Notes to editors
The embargoed videos are available for media to download here. The videos will be promoted via the artists, Amnesty and PEN America’s social media channels.
Full list of participating artists:
Alec Soth Photographer
Alice Sebold Author of Lovely Bones
Ayelet Waldman American novelist
Chang-Rae Lee Korean-American novelist
Daniel York British theatre actor
Jason Y. Ng Hong Kong author
Jennifer Lim Singaporean-British actress
JM Coetzee Nobel Laureate in Literature, author of Disgrace
Khaled Hosseini Author of Kite Runner
Ma Thida Myanmar writer
Michael Chabon 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction/ 2008 Hugo Award for Best Novel, author of Wonder Boys
Naomi Christie British actress
Nicholas Wong Hong Kong poet
Paul Auster American novelist/ Man Booker shortlist, author of New York Trilogy
Philip Gourevitch
American writer and journalist
Rebecca Boey British writer and actress
Rita Dove American poet, Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
Robert Pinsky American poet
Siri Hustvedt American Novelist/ longlisted for the 2014 Man Booker Prize and won the 2015 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction
Siu Hun Li Scottish Actor
Tammy Ho Hong Kong poet
Tina Chang American poet
Xu Xi Hong Kong-Indonesian novelist
徐友漁 Xu Youyu Chinese writer in the US
胡平 Hu Ping Chinese writer in the US
马建 Ma Jian Chinese-born British writer, author of Red Dust
Chang Chuan-fen Taiwanese writer, scholar and activist
Yen Hung-ya (Hung Hung) Taiwanese poet and artist
For further information please contact: Elizabeth Berton-Hunter, Media Relations 416-363-9933 ext 332 bberton-hunter@amnesty.ca
