Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo honored at Nobel peace prize ceremony

[News_Editor]

Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo honored at Nobel peace prize ceremony

2010-12-10 20:45:14 GMT+7 (ICT)

OSLO (BNO NEWS) -- In what the Chinese government views as a direct insult towards its judicial system, imprisoned dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize in absentia on Friday.

Represented by an empty chair, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the prize to Liu for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in the Asian country.

"The Norwegian Nobel Committee has long believed that there is a close connection between human rights and peace," said Thorbjørn Jagland, Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. "Such rights are a prerequisite for the 'fraternity between nations' of which Alfred Nobel wrote in his will."

Liu was sentenced to eleven years in prison by a Beijing Intermediate Court in December 2009 for taking part in the writing of Charter 08, which demanded basic human rights in China. It also demanded, among other freedoms, the freedom of expression and the election of public officials.

Jagland said the Committee regretted that neither Liu nor his family members were able to attend the ceremony as he remains in isolation in a prison in northeast China. "This fact alone shows that the award was necessary and appropriate," Jagland added.

It is the first time in 74 years that the prestigious peace prize award was not handed over to the recipient in person. The last time was in 1936 when German Führer Adolf Hitler prevented pacifist Carl von Ossietzky from attending the ceremony.

"Hitler was furious, and prohibited all Germans from accepting any Nobel Prize," said Jagland. "King Haakon did not attend the ceremony. Ossietzky did not come to Oslo, and died a little over a year later."

Liu, who is 54, asked his wife to dedicate this year's Nobel peace prize to 'the lost souls from the 4th of June', referring to the deadly Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. "It is a pleasure for us to fulfill his wish," Jagland said.

Liu had returned to China from abroad to take part in the democracy movement in 1989 and, on the 2nd of June, he went together with several of his friends to Tiananmen Square to start a hunger strike in protest against the state of emergency which had been declared.

The group issued a six-point democratic manifesto, written by Liu, opposing dictatorship and in favor of democracy. Liu was opposed to any physical struggle against the authorities on the part of the students and had tried to find a peaceful solution to the tension between the students and the government.

"On the 4th of June he and his friends tried to prevent a clash between the army and the students," Jagland said during Friday's ceremony. "He was only partially successful. Many lives were lost, most of them outside Tiananmen Square."

The massive protests at Tiananmen Square in 1989 turned deadly on June 4 when troops and tanks cleared the square with live fire. It is unknown how many people died, but it is widely believed that between 450 and 3,000 people were killed.

In response to Friday's ceremony, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said again it opposed awarding the prize to Liu. "We are firmly against the attempt by any country or individual to use the Nobel Peace Prize to interfere in China's internal affairs and infringe upon China's judicial sovereignty," he said, claiming that China has the support of 'over 100 countries and major international organizations'.

However, only 19 countries refused to attend the peace prize ceremony: China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Colombia, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Serbia, Iraq, Iran, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Venezuela, the Philippines, Egypt, Sudan, Ukraine, Cuba and Morocco.

"Prejudice and lies are untenable and the Cold War mentality has no popular support," Jiang added. "This political farce will in no way shake the resolve and confidence of the Chinese people to follow the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and the scheme by some people will get nowhere."

China had campaigned for years for one of its residents to win a Nobel Peace Prize. However, Liu's win was not what the Chinese government had been hoping for. International news organizations were censored during reports about this year's Nobel peace prize.

Last year, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to U.S. President Barack Obama "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." That announcement led to sharp criticism as it came only nine months into Obama's term as president.

"Mr. Liu Xiaobo is far more deserving of this award than I was," Obama said in a statement released by the White House on Friday.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2010-12-10

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