Nobelist`s wife invites Chinese dissidents to Oslo
Baku, October 26 (AZERTAC). The wife of Chinese Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo has invited more than 100 Chinese dissidents and celebrities to represent her husband at the Nobel award ceremony in Oslo.
In an open letter circulating on the Internet, Liu Xia writes that it is very unlikely that she or her husband will be allowed to leave China to attend the December 10 event. Liu Xiaobo is in prison for his pro-democracy activities and Liu Xia has been confined to her home since her husband won the prize.
Liu`s letter invites 143 people to the ceremony, many of them prominent dissidents who have themselves been under close watch since the prize was announced. The list, which became public Monday, also includes popular film personalities and entertainers.
Liu`s letter says China`s social progress needs “the joint effort of people from all walks of life.”
Also on Monday, a group of 15 Nobel Peace prize laureates published a letter urging leaders of the world`s top 20 economies to press China to free Liu Xiaobo at the G20 summit next month.
The letter says the release of Liu would be an extraordinary recognition of the transformation China has undergone in recent decades.
Signatories include former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Tibet`s exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, and South African Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu.
Liu is a veteran of the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests in Beijing and one of China`s most prominent rights activists. He is serving an 11-year prison sentence on subversion charges.
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