Widow Nobel laureate Liu in Germany

beijing - China has let the widow of the late Nobel laureate and activist Liu Xiaobo. Liu Xia (57) was under house arrest for eight years. She boarded a Finnish plane on Tuesday and arrived at the end of the afternoon (local time) in Germany.

Dissident Liu Xiaobo, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010, died last year from the effects of liver cancer. He was awarded the prize while he was serving a prison sentence.

Liu was sentenced to eleven years in prison in 2009 for 'inciting to overthrow the state'. The former professor of literature was one of the driving forces behind Charta 08, a document signed by hundreds of Chinese people and calling on the communist government to reform.

That Liu is allowed to leave the country, according to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has nothing to do with the visit recently from Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang to Berlin. He spoke among others with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Also look at: