BEIJING (AP) — The newly arrived U.S. ambassador in Beijing says a Nobel Peace Prize laureate should be allowed to get treatment outside China after he was diagnosed with cancer while imprisoned for subversion.

Ambassador Terry Branstad said Wednesday that Chinese authorities should allow 61-year-old Liu Xiaobo to seek treatment elsewhere "if it would be of help."

Branstad did not say if he'd spoken directly with Chinese authorities about the matter.

Liu was given a medical parole and hospitalized after being diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer on May 23.

The 2010 Peace Prize winner was serving an 11-year prison term for publishing a manifesto calling for an end to single-party rule in the Communist nation.

Human rights advocates have questioned if China's authoritarian government gave Liu adequate care while he was incarcerated.