Nobel Peace Prize Winner Liu Xiaobo Languishes In Chinese Prison
Although he probably hasn’t received word of his recognition, Liu Xiaobo was announced as the winner of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize Friday. Liu is enduring his latest stint in prison for provoking the Chinese government by publicly speaking out for human rights. Liu’s Nobel Peace Prize is bad PR for Beijing, which is trying to sell itself to the world as a modern progressive nation. Source of article – Jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo awarded Nobel Peace Prize by Personal Money Store.
Tiananmen Square leader is Nobel laureate
Liu Xiaobo had been a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Now he was convicted of subversion leading to an 11 year sentence. As outlined by the new York Times, the Norwegian Nobel Committee gave more reason for Beijing’s growing intolerance of dissent by giving Liu the prize. The Chinese Foreign Ministry referred to Liu as a “criminal,” called his award a “desecration” of the Nobel Peace Prize and said it would damage Norwegian-Chinese relations. Liu has been harassed and arrested repeatedly since 1989, when he organized a hunger strike in Tiananmen Square and later convinced students to peacefully retreat as soldiers stood ready to mow them down.
Nobel laureates seem to get imprisoned
Liu Xiaobo is just like all the other Nobel Peace Prize winners. Many of them have been in jail while receiving awards too. The first Nobel Peace laureate that was in jail when getting their prize was anti-Nazi journalist Carl von Ossietzky who was, in the mid-1930s, in Hitler’s Germany prison, reports CNN. Many of these people, including Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Aung Kyi and Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, weren’t able to get their awards in person and neither will he unless he is let out in December to receive the award in Oslo.
It is more special for Liu’s Nobel
China’s economy is difficult to stay away from engaging with. That doesn’t mean that it hasn’t been noticed that Beijing has suppressed dissent that can be seen. Chinese dissidents are always being locked away for “peaceful, noble and brave actions” which nobody hears about, says Epstein. A previous Nobel contender had been human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng. He ended up in jail without a word out making him lose that spot. Perhaps Liu’s Nobel will force the Chinese government to eventually relent and let its people enjoy the freedom that should complement its new-found economic clout.
