China's ailing Nobel laureate in 'critical condition'

China's cancer-stricken Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo is in a critical condition as his tumour has grown and his liver is bleeding, the hospital treating him said today.

Doctors have informed the family that they are preparing for the possibility of taking the 61-year-old democracy advocate into emergency care if necessary, the First Hospital of China Medical University in the northeastern city of Shenyang said in a statement.