US urges China to let Nobel winner's wife move freely

The US embassy in Beijing urged China on Tuesday to lift any restrictions on the wife of jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize whose award has stirred tensions over human rights.

Liu is serving 11 years in jail on subversion charges for demanding democratic transformation of China's one-party state, and his wife Liu Xia has sent out messages she is under house arrest in Beijing, according to news reports and overseas human rights groups. (Reuters)