Dissident Yu Jie to start website for Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo

NEW YORK (AP) - Chinese dissident and author Yu Jie said late on Wednesday he was granted asylum in the United States last week and plans to start a website in support of his friend, imprisoned Chinese Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo.

Yu, who was in New York to receive a civil courage prize, came to the US in January after being detained several times last year and being beaten so badly that he passed out.

He wrote a book critical of the premier called "China's Best Actor: Wen Jiabao" and helped found the Independent PEN Center in China, which fights for freedom of expression.

He plans to settle in Virginia and publish Mr Liu's works online, Mr Yu said.