Overseas specialists likely to treat sick Xiaobo

The hospital where Liu is receiving treatment in Shenyang in Liaoning province will “invite the most authoritative international therapists from the US, Germany and other countries to China” to join a team of Chinese doctors treating Liu, a statement on the city’s justice bureau website said on Wednesday.

The invitation to foreign doctors was made at the request of his family, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday.

Liu, China’s most famous political prisoner, was sentenced to 11 years behind bars in 2009 for “inciting subversion of state power”. He had signed a charter with other rights activists calling for sweeping political reforms in China opposing the the ruling Communist Party’s rule. He was granted medical parole after he was diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer in May.

His friends, relatives and rights groups have criticised the authorities for providing insufficient care to Liu behind bars.