China activists mark Nobel laureate's death anniversary in private due to censorship

Beijing, July 14 Five years after the death of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo while in custody, activists in China have been forced to mark his death anniversary mostly in private, due to the ongoing ban on public references to him, media reports said.

A friend of Liu's, who only gave the pseudonym Gu Tian, said some people had found ways to mark the anniversary despite a ban on the topic on social media platforms, RFA reported.

"Xiaobo passed away five years ago. He was a very good and honest person, who could see beyond the basic concept of the Chinese nation and China," Gu told RFA.

"He fought back against an autocratic regime," he said.

Some people took to Twitter, which requires circumvention tools to access from mainland China, to leave messages commemorating Xiaobo's death at the age of 61 from advanced liver cancer, while serving an 11-year jail term for "incitement to subvert state power", RFA reported.

An account named for rights lawyer Yu Wensheng said Liu had "sacrificed his life to lead China towards democracy".

"Today, I bowed three times in the direction of the sea to honour his heroic spirit."

Twitter user Li Fang wrote: "Many have forgotten Liu Xiaobo ... who died in prison five years ago. But China hasn't changed in those five years; the oppression and persecution are still the same. Forget Liu Xiaobo, and you forget China."

Another user identified as Wang Xiaoshan also mentioned the fifth anniversary of Liu's death, which came after he was jailed for co-authoring Charter 08, which promoted democracy and constitutional government, RFA reported.

In previous year, activists have gathered or taken photos at the shoreline to commemorate Liu, whose ashes were scattered at sea on the insistence of ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials.

Xiaobo died of liver cancer while in hospital while in police custody in 2017.

His wife Liu Xia, who had been under house arrest since his Nobel Peace Prize was announced in October 2010, was finally allowed to leave the country in 2018 after which she settled in Berlin.

Since then, she has kept a low profile and rarely appears in public, RFA reported.