For the last few days, I cannot shake my mind off thinking about Liu Xiaobo.  The literary critic, writer and an indomitable advocate for human rights and political reforms in China.  What the Chinese authorities have done to him is beyond despicable.  Some years ago, he co–authored a report where he severely indicted the government for lack of political openness and gross human rights violations and demanded greater freedom and accountability from the communist party.  For this daring act, in 2009, he was put in prison for life without recourse to any appeal.  He was placed in solitary confinement and none of his family members were allowed to visit him in jail.  Even though the Chinese state was impervious to Mr. Liu Xiaobo, the world took notice.  In 2010, he was awarded the Nobel peace prize.  This well-deserved recognition at the global stage for Mr. Liu Xiaobo did not go down well with the government in China.  They did not let him travel to Oslo to receive the award.  As a mark of respect for Mr. Liu, an empty chair was put in place among the other recipients and the Nobel citation was placed on that vacant chair.
   While under incarceration in Jinzhou, Liaoning, somewhere in the northeast China, his health kept deteriorating.  When at last, the international media discovered the fact that the 61 years old Mr. Liu has been suffering from liver cancer and is in a terminal stage, it was only then that the government authorities decided to release him on medical parole.  One has learned from various media reports that Mr. Liu Xiaobo is receiving only rudimentary medical care at the local hospital in Jinzhou.  Meanwhile, the governments in various European countries and also President Trump in the United States, have been calling upon China to accede to the wish of the dying man and allow him to go to either Germany or the US in order to receive the best possible medical assistance under the circumstances.  But so far, the Chinese government has categorically rejected every request to reconsider its stand on humanitarian grounds.  Mr. Liu Xiaobo is months away from dying.  If and when this tragedy comes to pass, he will be the second Nobel Laureate to die in custody after the Nazi era.  Shame on you Xi Jinping!