Man to start website for imprisoned Nobel laureate
NEW YORK (AP) — Chinese dissident author Yu Jie says he has been granted asylum in the United States, and plans to start a website in support of his friend, imprisoned Chinese Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo.
Yu, who was in New York on Wednesday night to receive a civil courage prize, came to the U.S. in January after being detained several times last year and being beaten so badly that he passed out. He said he was granted asylum last week.
Yu wrote a book critical of the premier called "China's Best Actor: Wen Jiabao" and helped found the Independent PEN Center in China, which fights for freedom of expression.
He plans to settle in Virginia and publish Liu's works online, Yu said.
Yu was the winner of the 2012 Civil Courage Prize, which is awarded by the Train Foundation.
