China tells world to stay out of its 'domestic affairs'

Liu, 61, died of multiple organ failure on Thursday, the first Nobel peace prize winner to die in custody since the German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky, who died under surveillance in 1938 after years confined to Nazi concentration camps.

Beijing had ignored international calls for Liu to be allowed to seek treatment abroad after he was diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer in May, apparently fearing he would use his final days of freedom to denounce its authoritarian rule.

Geng Shuang, a spokesman for China's foreign ministry, on Friday tried to downplay international condemnation of his government as the work of "a few foreign officials".

The leader of the Norwegian Nobel committee on Thursday accused Beijing of bearing "a heavy responsibility" for Liu's death, while the British foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, said China's treatment of him was "wrong".

"Foreign countries are in no position to make improper remarks," Geng said, according to an English-language report published by a Communist party tabloid.

He told a daily press briefing that China had lodged representations with "certain countries" over their comments relating to Liu's death. He also lashed out at the decision to award the dissident a Nobel prize in 2010, the year after he was sentenced.

"Conferring the prize to such a person goes against the purposes of this award. It's a blasphemy of the peace prize," Geng said. He nevertheless claimed "all-out efforts" had been made to treat the dissident with "humanity and in accordance with the law".

Human rights activists and friends reject those claims as lies designed to mask Beijing's responsibility for Liu's demise, who was sentenced to 11 years in jail for his role in a pro-democracy protest. "This is ultimately a political murder," said Hu Ping, who had known Liu since the spring of 1989, when pro-democracy protests shook Beijing.

On Friday, there were signs that having condemned Liu to almost a quarter of his life behind bars, China's leaders were also seeking to control his funeral.

Activist Hu Jia said authorities were pressuring Liu's family to quickly cremate his body. Relatives would only be allowed to hold "a simple farewell ceremony, under severe surveillance," Hu said, adding that Liu's friends had been unable to find out specific details.

"Most likely, it was already held this morning or will happen at some point this afternoon," he said. A brief report in China's state-run media claimed Liu's funeral "would respect the wishes of his family and local customs, with relevant authorities providing assistance if the family requests it".

Ye Du, another activist and friend of Liu, said he had been warned by Chinese security services that he was forbidden to travel. A "national ban" had been placed on activists hoping to attend Liu's funeral, he added.

The leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee said on Friday that the Chinese consulate in Oslo had refused to receive her visa application for travel so she could attend the funeral of Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo.

"I was told that my visa application was incorrectly filled in ... because I did not have an invitation from the person I was visiting," Berit Reiss-Andersen told Reuters.

"When I told them I would be attending a funeral and that the person had passed away, I was told I should try a relative. I told them she was kept in isolation ... I was also told that I should have a hotel and plane ticket booked."

Internet censors meanwhile scrubbed Chinese social media of comments related to the Nobel laureate, blocking search terms including Liu Xiaobo, LXB and RIP. The phrase "I have no enemies" – Liu's famous Tiananmen Square rallying call – was also banned.

Friends of the dissident who would become China's first Nobel Peace Prize laureate had for decades urged him to leave the country that sent him to prison time and again. Liu Xiaobo always said no. When Liu had a chance to seek asylum abroad after the 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy protests, he declined. Urged again in the 2000s to leave after needling the government with his essays, he again said no. He might be safer overseas, Liu told friends, but he would sacrifice the moral authority of a campaigner who persisted under one-party authoritarian Communist rule. Forcibly sequestered in her home by state security agents for seven years because of her husband's alleged crimes, Liu Xia had become severely depressed and was suffering heart attacks.