China calls on foreign health experts to treat activist Liu Xiaobo

Chinese authorities on Wednesday said the country has invited medical experts from the United States, Germany, and several other countries to help with Liu Xiaobo’s cancer treatment. The Shenyang Justice Bureau said on its website that it made the decision based on requests from the Nobel laureate’s family and consultation with Chinese doctors treating him. The appeal to outside doctors comes ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s attendance at the G20 summit that begins Friday in Hamburg, Germany. Liu, who began serving an 11-year prison sentence in 2009 for writing a manifesto calling for democratic reform and an end to human rights abuses in China, was diagnosed with a late-stage liver cancer in May and moved to a hospital in Shenyang. Amnesty International and U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Brandstad have called on China to allow Liu to receive medical treatment abroad.