Detainee Liu Xia Hospitalized as Health Reportedly Worsens

March 27, 2014

In late February 2014, Chinese artist and poet Liu Xia, wife of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, was reportedly hospitalized, then discharged. According to various reports, Liu Xia remains under isolating and increasingly traumatizing conditions of home confinement in Beijing despite not having been convicted of any crime, while the Chinese government claims that she is free. Her arbitrary detention stands in clear violation of China’s domestic laws and its international obligations.

Artist and Poet Liu Xia Reportedly Hospitalized, Then Discharged

On February 20, 2014, Chinese artist and poet Liu Xia, wife of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, was reportedly hospitalized in Beijing. Reuters reported that she suffered from “heart problems, possibly severe depression, and other ailments made worse during her time under guard.”[1] Days earlier, on February 14, BBC News reported that Liu Xia attempted to enter a Beijing hospital, but authorities reportedly decided not to admit Liu for treatment because of “political factors.”[2] Following the hospitalization, Liu Xia’s circumstances remained unclear as her lawyer Mo Shaoping told the New York Times that he had “very little information about Ms. Liu’s condition or even her precise whereabouts.”[3] On February 27, Radio Free Asia reported that Liu Xia had been discharged from the hospital after undergoing examinations and after her condition improved, according to an unnamed friend.[4]

In December 2013, foreign media reported that Liu Xia’s friends had expressed concerns about her mental health, given her ongoing hardships and continued confinement.[5] According to a December 2013 Reuters report, Liu Xia was only occasionally permitted to visit her imprisoned husband and rarely allowed to leave her residence.[6] In August 2013, Liu Xia reportedly wrote to her lawyer to share that she was “close to going crazy, close to mental collapse” during the time of her brother’s trial on fraud charges in April 2013.[7] In February 2014, a Voice of America article reported that Liu Xia was in “urgent need of medical care to treat a heart condition.”[8] Despite her health concerns, however, Chinese authorities have held Liu under an illegal form of arbitrary detention, commonly referred to as “soft detention” in Chinese (ruanjin), since October 2010.[9]  Chinese officials have previously maintained that “there are no charges against Ms. Liu Xia” and that officials “[have] taken no legal enforcement measures against Ms. Liu Xia.”[10] In addition, authorities have reportedly refused requests to allow Liu Xia to seek medical treatment or counseling overseas.[11]

Arbitrary Detention of Liu Xia Contravenes Domestic Laws and International Standards

Liu Xia’s de facto “house arrest” began on October 8, 2010—following the announcement that her husband, Liu Xiaobo, had won the Nobel Peace Prize—and has continued for approximately three-and-a-half years.[12] This ongoing arbitrary detention, or ruanjin, stands in clear violation of China’s domestic laws and its international obligations. Article 37 of the PRC Constitution provides that unlawful detention or deprivation or restriction of personal freedom of citizens by unlawful means is prohibited.[13] The PRC Criminal Law’s Article 238 criminalizes the unlawful detention or the unlawful deprivation of freedom of another person, and Article 238 and Article 234 impose heavier punishments against state agents who cause injury to a victim.[14]  Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) provides that “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.”[15] According to Article 9(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), no one should be subjected to arbitrary and extralegal arrests or detentions: “Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedure as are established by law.”[16] China signed the ICCPR in 1998 and has on multiple occasions expressed its intent to ratify the instrument. Under the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (list of participants), a state commits a crime of enforced disappearance when its agents arrest, detain, abduct, or otherwise deprive a person of liberty and then deny holding the person or conceal the fate or whereabouts of the person.[17]

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (the Working Group) has also previously concluded that Liu Xia’s house arrest violates international human rights standards. On May 5, 2011, the Working Group determined that Chinese officials’ restrictions on Liu Xia amounted to arbitrary detention and violated the UDHR’s Articles 9, 10, and 19.[18] The Working Group said that available information indicated that Liu Xia was under house arrest, with restrictions placed on her movement and her communications and visits with the outside world.[19] The Working Group held that these restrictions amounted to detention and that under Articles 9 and 10 of the UDHR she has the right to know the reasons for the detention and the charges against her.[20] She also has the right to promptly face a judge and the right to counsel, the group said. The Working Group also said that the detention of Liu Xia, who had spoken to non-Chinese media in support of her husband, violates the free speech protections of Article 19.[21]

The CECC has consistently raised the unlawful treatment of Liu Xia. On March 12, 2014, CECC Chairman Senator Sherrod Brown and Cochairman Representative Christopher Smith released a statement urging the Chinese government to end Liu Xia’s unlawful home confinement and to respect her internationally recognized right to freedom of movement.[22] In a February 2014 letter to President Xi Jinping, nine CECC Commissioners specifically raised Liu Xia’s case and expressed “serious concern over the worsening crackdown on Chinese citizens peacefully exercising their internationally recognized rights…”[23]

For further information on Liu Xia and how Chinese government and Communist Party restrictions on free speech violate international standards, see Section II—Freedom of Expression, in the CECC 2013 Annual Report. For further information on how officials arbitrarily restrict the liberty of politically sensitive individuals, see Section II—Criminal Justice, in the CECC 2013 Annual Report.



[1] Sui-Lee Wee, “Wife of China’s Jailed Nobel Laureate Liu Hospitalized,” Reuters, 19 February 14. (https://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/20/us-china-activist-idUSBREA1J06U20140220)

[2] “Liu Xia Has Heart Attack, the Hospital Refused to Accept Her; Hong Kong Group Shaves Head for Liu Xia” [Liu xia xinzang bing fa zao yiyuan jujue gang tuanti qingren jie titou cheng liu xia], Radio Free Asia, 14 February 14. (https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/sy1-02142014105914.html)

[3] Didi Kirsten Tatlow, “2 Prominent Women Under Detention Are Hospitalized,” New York Times, 21 February 14. (https://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/21/2-prominent-women-under-detention-are-hospitalized)

[4] “Liu Xia Discharged; Condition Improves” [Liu xia chuyuan bingqing haozhuan], Radio Free Asia, 27 February 14. (https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/Liu-02272014092333.html)

[5] Sui-Lee Wee, “Wife of China’s Jailed Nobel Laureate Suspected of Suffering Severe Depression,” Reuters, 2 December 13. (https://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/20/us-china-activist-idUSBREA1J06U20140220) Frontline Defenders, “China: Liu Xia, Wife of Liu Xiaobo, Appeals to Chinese Government Amid Worsening Health While Under House Arrest,” 3 December 13. (https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/24391)

[6] Sui-Lee Wee, “Wife of China's Jailed Nobel Laureate Suspected of Suffering Severe Depression,” Reuters, 2 December 13. (https://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/02/us-china-dissident-wife-idUSBRE9B108V20131202)

[7] Ibid.

[8] “Jailed Chinese Nobel Laureate’s Wife Needs ‘Urgent’ Treatment,” Voice of America News, 14 February 14. (https://www.voanews.com/content/wife-of-jailed-chinese-nobel-laureate-needs-urgent-treatment/1851238.html)

[9] Frontline Defenders, “China: Liu Xia, Wife of Liu Xiaobo, Appeals to Chinese Government Amid Worsening Health While Under House Arrest,” 3 December 13. (https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/24391)

[10] UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Opinion No. 16/2011 (People’s Republic of China), 5 May 11, reprinted in Freedom Now, 1 August 11. (https://www.freedom-now.org/news/un-declares-detention-of-imprisoned-nobel-peace-prize-laureate-and-wife-illegal-calls-for-immediate-release)

[11] Didi Kirsten Tatlow, “2 Prominent Women Under Detention Are Hospitalized,” New York Times, 21 February 14. (https://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/21/2-prominent-women-under-detention-are-hospitalized)

[12] Amnesty International, “China: Fears for Health of Liu Xia,” 18 February 14. (https://www.amnesty.ca/get-involved/take-action-now/china-fears-for-health-of-liu-xia)

[13] PRC Constitution, issued 4 December 82, amended 12 April 88, 29 March 93, 15 March 99, 14 March 04, art. 37. (https://www.cecc.gov/resources/legal-provisions/constitution-of-the-peoples-republic-of-china)

[14] PRC Criminal Law, enacted 1 July 79, amended 14 March 97, effective 1 October 97, amended 25 December 99, 31 August 01, 29 December 01, 28 December 02, 28 February 05, 29 June 06, 28 February 09, 25 February 11, arts. 234, 238. (https://www.cecc.gov/resources/legal-provisions/criminal-law-of-the-peoples-republic-of-china)

[15] Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted and proclaimed by UN General Assembly resolution 217A (III) of 10 December 48, art. 9. (https://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml)

[16] International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), adopted by UN General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI) of 16 December 66, entry into force 23 March 76, art. 9. (https://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CCPR.aspx)

[17] UN General Assembly, International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, A/RES/47/133, 18 December 92, art 2. (https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CED/Pages/ConventionCED.aspx)

[18] UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Opinion No. 16/2011 (People’s Republic of China), 5 May 11, reprinted in Freedom Now, 1 August 11. (https://www.freedom-now.org/news/un-declares-detention-of-imprisoned-nobel-peace-prize-laureate-and-wife-illegal-calls-for-immediate-release) For CECC analysis, see “UN Group Calls for Immediate Release of Liu Xiaobo and Wife Liu Xia,” Congressional-Executive Commission on China, 12 August 11. (https://www.cecc.gov/publications/commission-analysis/un-group-calls-for-immediate-release-of-liu-xiaobo-and-wife-liu-xia)

[19] UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Opinion No. 16/2011 (People’s Republic of China), 5 May 11, reprinted in Freedom Now, 1 August 11. (https://www.freedom-now.org/news/un-declares-detention-of-imprisoned-nobel-peace-prize-laureate-and-wife-illegal-calls-for-immediate-release)

[20] Ibid.

[21] Ibid.

[22] Congressional-Executive Commission on China, “Chairman Brown and Cochairman Smith Urge China To End the Unlawful House Arrest of Liu Xia,” 12 March 14. (https://www.cecc.gov/media-center/press-releases/chairman-brown-and-cochairman-smith-urge-china-to-end-the-unlawful-house)

[23] Congressional-Executive Commission on China, “In Letter to President Xi Jinping, CECC Commissioners Call for End to Crackdown,” 27 February 14. (https://www.cecc.gov/media-center/press-releases/in-letter-to-president-xi-jinping-cecc-commissioners-call-for-end-to)