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Hospital: Sick China Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo Is in Critical Condition

Dissident’s kidneys failing, lesions bleeding from late-stage liver cancer.

Chinese dissident and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo is now in critical condition, his Beijing hospital announced Monday. Liu, China’s best-known political prisoner, is fighting late-stage liver cancer and was transferred in late June from a prison hospital. Western governments and Liu’s supporters have urged China to let the dissident choose for himself where he wants to be treated and to release him, citing his fragile health. Liu is suffering from a swollen stomach, poor kidney function, and low blood pressure. Officials said an MRI scan showed he also has growing cancer lesions, which are causing his liver to bleed.