Held 'hostage' by China
Held 'hostage' by China She has described herself as China's "hostage", and her story deserves to be told widely. Liu Xiaobo was convicted of attempting to 'subvert' the Chinese state For over a year now Liu Xia has been deprived of her liberty by the Chinese state, for the sole reason, it seems, that her husband won the Nobel Prize. Liu Xia is guilty of nothing. But she is married to Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese political activist, selected by the Nobel committee last year as winner of the Peace Prize. That, it seems, is why she has been under "house arrest" since 18 October 2010, though her detention has no discernible legal basis. It is why her case is extraordinary, and why it deserves mention now, one year on from the award of the prize. When the Nobel committee announced the award Liu Xiaobo was already in jail. He's been there for three years, and has been convicted of attempting to "subvert" China's