Chinese dissident awarded Nobel Peace Prize
Baku, December 10 (AZERTAC). An imprisoned Chinese dissident was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, on Friday as groups of protesters gathered outside the Norwegian Embassy and United Nations offices in Beijing.
China has responded furiously since the Nobel committee announced on October 8 that Liu Xiaobo would be its peace prize winner. Officials have repeatedly called Liu a common criminal and declared the award a Western plot against China.
A large number of officers also stood guard outside the west central Beijing apartment complex where Liu Xiaobo`s wife, Liu Xia, has been under house arrest since the award was announced. Journalists were cordoned off in a small area next to the building.
The police presence outside the Norwegian Embassy in Beijing had also increased early Friday.
Jailed dissident wins Nobel Prize Liu, a professor of literature, is serving an 11-year sentence in a Chinese prison for what the government called "inciting subversion of state power." He was not allowed to travel to Norway to accept the prize, nor was his wife, Liu Xia.
He will be represented by an empty chair at the Nobel ceremony, the second time such a symbol has been used in the event.
Before the ceremony Friday, some Twitter users who listed their location as Beijing had changed their profile pictures to an empty chair.
Thorbjorn Jagland, the chairman of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, said Thursday that the award is not a protest.
"It is a signal to China that it would be very important for China`s future to combine economic development with political reforms and it is support for those people in China who are struggling for basic human rights," Jagland told reporters.
Beijing also put pressure on its allies and other countries not to attend the peace prize ceremony, and it hastily announced its own honor -- the Confucius Peace Prize, which was awarded Thursday to former Taiwanese Vice President Lien Chan. That award was accepted by a 6-year-old girl on Lien`s behalf. Lien did not know about the prize, his office said.
Amnesty International said it had received reports from "reliable sources" that Chinese diplomats in Norway have been pressuring Chinese residents into joining anti-Nobel demonstrations when the award ceremony is held Friday.
On Thursday, the U.N. human rights chief called for Liu`s release from prison and criticized what she said were "recent restrictions placed on an ever-widening circle" of the dissident's associates.
"In recent weeks, my office has received reports of at least 20 activists being arrested or detained and more than 120 other cases of house arrest, travel restrictions, forced relocations and other acts of intimidation," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay told reporters.
Jagland said the committee expected a "harsh reaction" from Beijing.
But "we are very glad to see that two-thirds of the nations that have embassies in Oslo will be attending the ceremony, and most of them are very big, very important countries," he added.
Among those attending is U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is part of the official delegation on behalf of Liu and his wife.
Of the 19 countries that declined to come to Friday`s ceremony -- including China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iraq and Iran -- Jagland said Thursday that two had reconsidered: Ukraine and the Philippines.
But the state-run China Daily newspaper reported Friday that "most nations" had expressed their support for China's stance, citing a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman.
The spokeswoman, Jiang Yu, said the award would not change the fact that "Liu committed crimes."
Friday's ceremony will include songs by a children`s choir -- a special request made by Liu through his wife, according to Lundestad. And Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann will read one of Liu's "most interesting and beautiful texts," Jagland said.
Once officials award the prize, Jagland predicted that keeping Liu, 54, in prison for the entirety of his 11-year sentence may prove impossible.
"The pressure from the outside world will be on China to release him. In today's world, it is totally impossible to close a country. We already know that a lot of Chinese know about the prize, and this is creating a huge pressure on China," Jagland said.
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