Rubio Statement on Release of Liu Xia, Widow of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Chinese Pro-Democracy Advocate Liu Xiaobo

Statement

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), today issued a statement on the release of Liu Xia, widow of Liu Xiaobo, the late Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Chinese pro-democracy advocate, from arbitrary detention at her home to Germany:

"Liu Xia's release, on the eve of her husband Liu Xiaobo's death in captivity, is long overdue. She was unjustly and illegally held in confinement at her home for 8 years by the Chinese government--cut off from the outside world, isolated in her grief and tormented by her captors," Rubio said. "Liu Xia's freedom is the result of sustained public pressure and international diplomacy, and we will continue to raise the thousands of other political and religious prisoners in China who remain detained and imprisoned.

"As we approach the one-year anniversary of Liu Xiaobo's death, his legacy and the vision that he and others set forth in Charter 08, an open statement calling for political reforms and the protection of universal human rights in China, remain unfilled for millions of Chinese citizens."

Rubio also noted with the concern the fate of Liu Xia's brother who remains in China.

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