Washington, D.C.: Today, Freedom Now released a letter (full text and signatories below) by 154 Nobel Laureates to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The letter states:
“The Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo has been diagnosed with liver cancer. His wife, Liu Xia, who has been under house arrest for almost seven years, is also ill. They have the wish to leave the country so they can receive medical care. Time is running out. We urge the Chinese government on humanitarian grounds to grant Liu Xiaobo and Liu Xia’s wish to travel to the United States for medical treatment.”
The letter was also copied to President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and Ambassador Terry Branstad.
Sir Richard Roberts, 1993 Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, who organized this letter among his fellow Laureates commented: “It is heartbreaking that our fellow Laureate Liu Xiaobo has been diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. We hope that in a spirit of friendship and cooperation that President Xi will allow the Lius to leave China on humanitarian grounds.”
Jared Genser, Founder of Freedom Now and pro bono counsel to the Lius since several months before he won the Nobel Peace Prize added: “I hope that President Xi shows compassion and strength by responding favorably to this extraordinarily distinguished group of Nobel Laureates request that the request of the Lius to travel to the United States for medical treatment are honored.”
Genser published an oped in the Washington Post earlier this week entitled “Dear President Trump: Please Let Liu Xiaobo Die as a Free Man.” In an editorial, the Washington Post added “Mr. Liu’s case is a signal example of why China lacks the moral capacity to exercise global leadership. By advocating for this dying hero of human rights, Mr. Trump could show that the United States still lives by different values.”
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Sir Richard Roberts
1993 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine
June 29, 2017
President Xi Jinping
People’s Republic of China
c/o Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
2201 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 110
Washington, D.C. 20007
Dear President Xi,
Our fellow Nobel Laureate the Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo has been diagnosed with liver cancer. His wife, Liu Xia, who has been under house arrest for almost seven years, is also ill. They have the wish to leave the country so they can receive medical care. Time is running out. We urge the Chinese government on humanitarian grounds to grant Liu Xiaobo and Liu Xia’s wish to travel to the United States for medical treatment.
Yours Sincerely,
Sir Richard J. Roberts,
1993 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine
On behalf of the 154 Nobel Laureates whose names are listed below
cc: The Honorable Donald J. Trump, President of the United States
The Honorable Rex Tillerson, U.S. Secretary of State
The Honorable Terry Branstad, U.S. Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China
154 Nobel Laureates
Peter Agre Chemistry 2003
Zhores I. Alferov Physics 2000
Hiroshi Amano Physics 2014
Philip W. Anderson Physics 1977
David Baltimore Medicine 1975
Francoise Barre-Sinoussi Medicine 2008
J. Georg Bednorz Physics 1987
Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo Peace 1996
J. Michael Bishop Medicine 1989
Elizabeth H. Blackburn Medicine 2009
Gunter Blobel Medicine 1999
Sydney Brenner Medicine 2002
Linda B. Buck Medicine 2004
Arvid Carlsson Medicine 2000
Thomas R. Cech Chemistry 1989
Martin Chalfie Chemistry 2008
Steven Chu Physics 1997
Aaron Ciechanover Chemistry 2004
J. M. Coetzee Literature 2003
Claude Cohen-Tannoudji Physics 1997
Leon N. Cooper Physics 1972
Eric A. Cornell Physics 2001
Mairead Maguire Peace 1976
Paul J. Crutzen Chemistry 1995
Robert F. Curl Jr. Chemistry 1996
Angus S. Deaton Economics 2015
Johann Deisenhofer Chemistry 1988
Peter A. Diamond Economics 2010
Shirin Ebadi Peace 2003
Francois Englert Physics 2013
Richard R. Ernst Chemistry 1991
Gerhard Ertl Chemistry 2007
Sir Martin J. Evans Medicine 2007
Eugene F. Fama Economics 2013
Andrew Z. Fire Medicine 2006
Edmond H. Fischer Medicine 1992
Jerome I. Friedman Physics 1990
Leymah Roberta Gbowee Peace 2011
Riccardo Giacconi Physics 2002
Walter Gilbert Chemistry 1980
Sheldon Glashow Physics 1979
Roy J. Glauber Physics 2005
Joseph L. Goldstein Medicine 1985
Paul Greengard Medicine 2000
Carol W. Greider Medicine 2009
David J. Gross Physics 2004
Robert H. Grubbs Chemistry 2005
Roger Guillemin Medicine 1977
Sir John B. Gurdon Medicine 2012
John L. Hall Physics 2005
Serge Haroche Physics 2012
Oliver Hart Economics 2016
Leland H. Hartwell Medicine 2001
Harald zur Hausen Medicine 2008
Dudley R. Herschbach Chemistry 1986
Avram Hershko Chemistry 2004
Antony Hewish Physics 1974
Roald Hoffmann Chemistry 1981
Gerardus ‘t Hooft Physics 1999
H. Robert Horvitz Medicine 2002
Robert Huber Chemistry 1988
John Hume Peace 1998
Tim Hunt Medicine 2001
Louis J. Ignarro Medicine 1998
Amnesty International Peace 1977
Elfriede Jelinek Literature 2004
Brian D. Josephson Physics 1973
Daniel Kahneman Economics 2002
Takaaki Kajita Physics 2015
Eric R. Kandel Medicine 2000
Charles K. Kao Physics 2009
Tawakkul Karman Peace 2011
Martin Karplus Chemistry 2013
Wolfgang Ketterle Physics 2001
Klaus von Klitzing Physics 1985
Brian K. Kobilka Chemistry 2012
Roger D. Kornberg Chemistry 2006
Herbert Kroemer Physics 2000
Finn E. Kydland Economics 2004
The 14th Dalai Lama Peace 1989
Leon M. Lederman Physics 1988
Yuan T. Lee Chemistry 1986
Robert J. Lefkowitz Chemistry 2012
Anthony J. Leggett Physics 2003
Jean-Marie Lehn Chemistry 1987
Michael Levitt Chemistry 2013
Robert E. Lucas Jr. Economics 1995
Harry M. Markowitz Economics 1990
Eric S. Maskin Economics 2007
John C. Mather Physics 2006
Daniel L. McFadden Economics 2000
Craig C. Mello Medicine 2006
Robert C. Merton Economics 1997
Hartmut Michel Chemistry 1988
James A. Mirrlees Economics 1996
Patrick Modiano Literature 2014
Paul L. Modrich Chemistry 2015
William E. Moerner Chemistry 2014
Mario J. Molina Chemistry 1995
Toni Morrison Literature 1993
Edvard Moser Medicine 2014
May-Britt Moser Medicine 2014
Herta Muller Literature 2009
Kary B. Mullis Chemistry 1993
Roger B. Myerson Economics 2007
Shuji Nakamura Physics 2014
Erwin Neher Medicine 1991
Sir Paul Nurse Medicine 2001
Christiane Nusslein-Volhard Medicine 1995
John O’Keefe Medicine 2014
Douglas D. Osheroff Physics 1996
William D. Phillips Physics 1997
John C. Polanyi Chemistry 1986
H. David Politzer Physics 2004
Stanley B. Prusiner Medicine 1997
Venkatraman Ramakrishnan Chemistry 2009
Jose Ramos-Horta Peace 1996
Adam G. Riess Physics 2011
Sir Richard J. Roberts Medicine 1993
Alvin E. Roth Economics 2012
Carlo Rubbia Physics 1984
Randy W. Schekman Medicine 2013
Brian P. Schmidt Physics 2011
Richard R. Schrock Chemistry 2005
Phillip A. Sharp Medicine 1993
Osamu Shimomura Chemistry 2008
Christopher A. Sims Economics 2011
Jens C. Skou Chemistry 1997
Vernon L. Smith Economics 2002
Hamilton O. Smith Medicine 1978
Jack Steinberger Physics 1988
Thomas A. Steitz Chemistry 2009
Joseph E. Stiglitz Economics 2001
John E. Sulston Medicine 2002
Akira Suzuki Chemistry 2010
Jack W. Szostak Medicine 2009
Joseph H. Taylor Jr. Physics 1993
Daniel C. Tsui Physics 1998
Mario Vargas Llosa Literature 2010
Sir John E. Walker Chemistry 1997
J. Robin Warren Medicine 2005
Arieh Warshel Chemistry 2013
James Watson Medicine 1962
Steven Weinberg Physics 1979
Carl E. Wieman Physics 2001
Eric F. Wieschaus Medicine 1995
Torsten N. Wiesel Medicine 1981
Frank Wilczek Physics 2004
Betty Williams Peace 1976
Jody Williams Peace 1997
Oliver E. Williamson Economics 2009
Robert Woodrow Wilson Physics 1978
David J. Wineland Physics 2012
Ada E. Yonath Chemistry 2009