China keeps delaying talks on letting Liu Xiaobo’s widow leave the country – source

FILE PHOTO: Protesters carrying photos of Chinese dissident Liu Xia demonstrate near a flag raising ceremony for China's National Day in Hong Kong, China October 1, 2016. REUTERS/Bobby Yip/File Photo

BEIJING (Reuters) - China is repeatedly postponing discussions with Western governments on the possibility that Liu Xia, the widow of Nobel Peace Prize-winning dissident Liu Xiaobo, be allowed to leave the country, according to a source with direct knowledge of the case.

Liu Xia, a poet and artist who suffers from depression, has effectively been under house arrest since her husband won the prize in 2010. Liu Xiaobo died in Chinese custody in July last year after being denied permission to go abroad for treatment of advanced liver cancer.