The ashes of China's late Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo are scattered in the sea after a controversial funeral, as his friends worried about the fate of the democracy advocate's widow.

China lashes out at international criticism after it denied Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo's dying wish to leave the country and faced pressure to set the democracy champion's widow free.

China's cancer-stricken Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo suffers respiratory failure as his condition worsens, his hospital says, as Germany offers to host him and rights groups decry the lack of independent information.

China rejects criticism over its treatment of cancer-stricken Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo after the United States urged Beijing to give the paroled activist freedom to move and choose his own doctors.