The Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 was granted to Liu Xiaobo in absentia at a service in Oslo, Norway Friday. Liu is imprisoned in China. A clear seat was the Nobel Committee’s symbolic gesture of his plight. China has denounced Liu’s award and had become the first state since Nazi Germany to prevent representatives for a Nobel laureate from taking the Nobel Peace Prize. Even if Liu Xiaobo had been able to get an payday loan, he would not be able to purchase his freedom.
Empty chair holding Nobel Peace Prize
The 2010 Nobel Peace Prize and also the $1.5 million check that comes with it was set on an empty chair after Thorbjorn Jagland, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, presented the award. The Nobel awards ceremony was attended by diplomatic representative from more than 60 countries. Both China and Russia were very much absent. After giving China credit for its economic development, Jagland said "It is no coincidence that nearly all the richest countries in the world are democratic.” Since Liu Xiaobo had been announced as the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in Oct, China has suspended bilateral trade talks with Norway. Members of the Nobel Committee were called "clowns" by the Beijing government lately.
Liu Xiaobo’s Charter 08
Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo had been arrested in December 2008 after co-authoring “Charter 08,”a manifesto calling for fundamental political change in China. There were over 300 influential Chinese who signed the Charter 08. These included journalists, lawyers and academics. For his efforts, Liu was sentenced to 11 years in prison for “subversion of state power.”. China has been trying to make it so the news of Liu's award doesn't come. They want to suppress it. Police then forced co-author of Charter 08, Zhang, Zuhua, into a automobile Thursday. Since Liu had been announced winner, his wife had been on house arrest where you will find now blue construction panels.
Hitler would have done what China is doing
This isn't the first time a Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to an imprisoned political dissident. It has happened in the past. Andrei Sakharov as a soviet physicist, Lech Walesa as a Polish labor leader and Aung San Suu Kyi as a Burmese activist all were given the award, The Oslo awards ceremony had family there to accept them. The last time an imprisoned Nobel laureate’s family weren’t allowed to attend was in 1935. German journalist Count Carl von Ossietzky won the Nobel Peace Prize when he had been in a concentration camp for speaking out against Hitler’s rise to power. Hitler then concocted his own peace prize, just like the Chinese did Thursday with their farcical Confucius Prize.
Citations
The Telegraph
telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8192479/Nobel-Peace-Prize-the-fundamental-principles-of-Charter-08.html
CNN
cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/12/10/norway.nobel.prize/index.html?npt=NP1
New York Times
nytimes.com/2010/12/11/world/europe/11nobel.html?_r=1&hp
Nobel Peace Prize going to a chair
The 2010 Nobel Peace Prize and the $1.5 million check that comes with it was set on an empty chair after Thorbjorn Jagland, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, presented the award. The Nobel awards ceremony was attended by diplomatic representative from more than 60 countries. It was obvious that two countries didn't show up. This included Russia and China. Jagland said "It is no coincidence that nearly all the richest countries in the world are democratic," about China. This was after giving the country credit for its economic development. In October, it was announced that the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize was Liu Xiaobo. All trade talks with Norway were stopped by China then. The Beijing government recently called the members of the Nobel Committee “clowns.”.
Liu Xiaobo imprisoned because of Charter 08
"Charter 08," or a manifesto to make a fundamental political change in China, was what Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo was arrested for in December 2008. More than 300 influential Chinese including academics, lawyers and journalists signed the Charter 08. Liu allegedly committed "subversion of state power." This is why he is serving an 11 year sentence. News of Liu's award has been stopped by China as much as possible. On Thursday, Zhang Zuhua, a co-author of Charter 08, was seen forced into a vehicle by police. Blue construction panels were erected in front of Liu’s apartment, where his wife has been under house arrest since he was announced as the winner.
China following in Hitler's footsteps
This isn't the first time a Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to an imprisoned political dissident. It has happened in the past. The Oslo awards ceremony had family of soviet physicist Andrei Sakharov, Polish labor leader Lech Walesa and Burmese activist Aung San Suu Kyi to accept the awards. It has been a while since an imprisoned Nobel winner's family couldn't come. It was 1935 in fact. The Nobel Peace Prize was given to German journalist Count Carl von Ossietzky who had spoken out about Hitler's rise to power causing him to be put in a concentration camp. Hitler then concocted his own peace prize, just like the Chinese did Thursday with their farcical Confucius Prize.
Information from
The Telegraph
telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8192479/Nobel-Peace-Prize-the-fundamental-principles-of-Charter-08.html
CNN
cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/12/10/norway.nobel.prize/index.html?npt=NP1
New York Times
nytimes.com/2010/12/11/world/europe/11nobel.html?_r=1&hp
No comments:
Post a Comment