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Liu Xiaobo, a jailed Chinese dissident, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to promote democracy and human rights, reports Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
Liu, 54, became the first Chinese national to be awarded the peace prize, announced today by the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo. The committee decided to award the prize “for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China,” according to the statement.
Liu, a writer, was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Dec. 25, 2009, on a charge of plotting to subvert the ruling Communist Party. He had been in custody since December 2008 for his role in organizing Charter 08, an open letter calling for direct elections and the freedom of assembly. More than 300 Chinese academics, lawyers and activists signed the letter.
“I want to tell the whole world: Liu Xiaobo is innocent, and I am proud of him,” Liu’s wife, Liu Xia, said in a telephone interview from China with Cable TV, a Hong Kong-based broadcaster. “It’s not just a prize for him, but for all those who persist in pushing for democracy, freedom and peace in China, and as well as all prisoners of conscience.”
China’s government says Liu, as a convicted criminal, doesn’t deserve the Nobel Peace Prize.
“The person you just mentioned was sentenced to jail by Chinese judicial authorities for violation of Chinese law, and I think his acts are in complete contravention to the purpose of the Nobel Peace Prize,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters on Sept. 28.
State-owned Xinhua News Agency and other official media, which reported on other Nobel prizes, didn’t report Liu’s award. Netease.com Inc. removed a section of its website portal that had been dedicated to reporting this year’s Nobel Prize winner.