The 2010 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to imprisoned Chinese
human rights activist
A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campai ...
(1955–2017) "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental
human rights in China".
The laureate, once an eminent scholar, was reportedly little-known inside the People's Republic of China (PRC) at the time of the award due to official censorship;
[Sautman, Barry; Yan, Hairong (15 December 2010)]
"The Chinese dissident has praised the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan – and said China should be fully westernised"
''The Guardian''
Archived
2 December 2011.[ he partook in the ]Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...
and was a co-author of the Charter 08
Charter 08 is a manifesto initially signed by 303 Chinese dissident intellectuals and human rights activists. It was published on 10 December 2008, the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopting its name and style from ...
manifesto, for which he was sentenced to 11 years in prison on 25 December 2009. Liu, who was backed by former Czech president Václav Havel
Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and former dissident. Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992 and then as ...
and anti-apartheid activist and cleric Desmond Tutu
Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop ...
, also a Nobel Peace Prize winner, received the award among a record field of more than 200 nominees.
The decision, while widely praised by foreign intellectuals and politicians, was quickly condemned by the Chinese government and the state media. A number of countries, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, also denounced the award and what they regarded as interference in China's domestic affairs. Following the announcement, official censorship was applied within China—on the Internet, television and in print media. The government strongly denounced the award and summoned the Norwegian ambassador in Beijing to make a formal protest. The Chinese authorities arrested citizens who attempted to celebrate. Liu's wife was put under house arrest before the decision of the Nobel Committee
A Nobel Committee is a working body responsible for most of the work involved in selecting Nobel Prize laureates. There are five Nobel Committees, one for each Nobel Prize.
Four of these committees (for prizes in physics, chemistry, physiolog ...
was announced.
Chinese diplomats moved to pressure other countries not to attend the award ceremony, which was scheduled for 10 December. The diplomatic missions of democratic countries in Oslo received warning letters from their Chinese counterparts; the deputy foreign minister also warned countries of "the consequences".[ In December, the ]Chinese Foreign Ministry
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China () is the first-ranked executive department of the State Council of the Chinese government, responsible for the foreign relations of the People's Republic of China. It is led ...
continued the rhetorical assault, stating "more than 100 countries and international organisations adexpressed explicit support of China's position". In the end, 46 countries attended of the 65 invited (the People's Republic of China and 19 other nations declined invitations). China's official news agency, Xinhua
Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...
, attacked the West for its "Cold-War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of Geopolitics, geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term ''Cold war (term), co ...
or even colonial mentality" and for daring to "regard themselves as the judge, the teacher hoassume that they can forever distort the fact and block the truth by using political maneuvers."[ Strong rhetoric and denunciations of the West continued from official sources until after the ceremony.
Liu was the first person of Chinese nationality to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize] and the first to be awarded a Nobel Prize of any kind while residing in China. Liu was the third person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while in prison or detention after Germany's Carl von Ossietzky
Carl von Ossietzky (; 3 October 1889 – 4 May 1938) was a German journalist and pacifist. He was the recipient of the 1935 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in exposing the clandestine German re-armament.
As editor-in-chief of the magazine ''Die ...
(1935) and Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi (; ; born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as State Counsellor of Myanmar (equivalent to a prime minister) and Minister of Foreign Affairs from ...
(1991). As the laureate was absent, Liu's place on the podium was unoccupied; Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann read '' I Have No Enemies'', an essay that Liu had written for his trial in December 2009, in place of the acceptance speech.
Nomination and announcement
The Nobel Committee disclosed there were a record number of nominations in 2010 – a total of 237, of which 38 were organisations. Although the committee has a policy of keeping nominations confidential for 50 years, some nominators made announcements.[MacDougall, Ian (2 February 2010)]
"2010 Nobel Peace Prize Nominees: Chinese, Russian Activists Nominated"
''HuffPost''. Retrieved 23 August 2011. Among the nominees were Russian human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina
Svetlana Alekseevna Gannushkina (russian: Светла́на Алексе́евна Га́ннушкина, born 6 March 1942) is a mathematician and human rights activist in Russia who was reported to have been a serious contender for the 2010 ...
, the International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...
,[ the Internet][ and its three founders Larry Roberts, ]Vint Cerf
Vinton Gray Cerf (; born June 23, 1943) is an American Internet pioneer and is recognized as one of " the fathers of the Internet", sharing this title with TCP/IP co-developer Bob Kahn. He has received honorary degrees and awards that include ...
and Tim Berners-Lee
Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee (born 8 June 1955), also known as TimBL, is an English computer scientist best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web. He is a Professorial Fellow of Computer Science at the University of Oxford and a profess ...
.[ Also on the list were Chinese dissidents Liu Xiaobo, Hu Jia, ]Gao Zhisheng
Gao Zhisheng (born 20 April 1964) is a Chinese human rights attorney and dissident known for defending activists and religious minorities and documenting human rights abuses in China. Because of his work, Zhisheng has been disbarred and det ...
, Chen Guangcheng
Chen Guangcheng (born November 12, 1971) is a Chinese civil rights activist who has worked on human rights issues in rural areas of the People's Republic of China. Blind from an early age and self-taught in the law, Chen is frequently descr ...
, Bao Tong
Bao Tong ( zh, s=鲍彤; 5 November 1932 – 9 November 2022) was a Chinese writer and activist. He was Director of the Office of Political Reform of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Policy Secretary of Zhao Z ...
, and Rebiya Kadeer
Rebiya Kadeer ( ug, رابىيە قادىر, translit=Rabiye Qadir; born 15 November 1946) is an ethnic Uyghur businesswoman and political activist. Born in Altay City, Xinjiang, Kadeer became a millionaire in the 1980s through her real estate ...
.[Deshayes, Pierre-Henry (10 March 2010)]
"China critics, Net founders among record 237 Nobel contenders"
Agence France-Presse. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
Liu was nominated by International PEN
PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internationa ...
, the worldwide association of writers.[Greene, Richard Allen (7 October 2010)]
"Who will win this year's Nobel Peace Prize?"
CNN. Retrieved 7 October 2010. Interested in Western philosophy, Liu made his reputation as a literary critic with a treatise on the state of modern Chinese literature: an article he published in 1986 that criticised Chinese writers for their dependence on the state, and their deficit in free-thinking, caused a stir in the Chinese literary world. His challenging ideas caught the attention of the intellectuals; he lectured all over China and abroad. He was in New York when the 1989 pro-democracy movement erupted in China; he returned immediately to China and spent most of his time amongst the protesters in Tiananmen Square. This, and his subsequent leadership role in the ''Charter 08
Charter 08 is a manifesto initially signed by 303 Chinese dissident intellectuals and human rights activists. It was published on 10 December 2008, the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopting its name and style from ...
'' pro-democracy manifesto for China, led the Chinese authorities to censor his views as subversive. Liu was jailed for 11 years on 25 December 2009, for "inciting subversion of state power." A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said "It would be completely wrong for the Nobel Prize committee to award the prize to iu.[ In January 2010, Václav Havel and others—including the 14th Dalai Lama, ]André Glucksmann
André Glucksmann (; 19 June 1937 – 10 November 2015) was a French philosopher, activist and writer. He was a leading figure of the new philosophers.
Glucksmann began his career as a Marxist, but went on to reject communism in the popular bo ...
, Vartan Gregorian, New Zealand politician Mike Moore Michael Moore is an American filmmaker and author.
Michael Moore may also refer to:
Academia
* Michael G. Moore (fl. 1970s–2020s), professor of education
* Michael S. Moore (academic) (fl. 1960s–2020s), American law professor
* Michael Moore ...
, Karel Schwarzenberg
Prince Karel of Schwarzenberg (, born 10 December 1937) is a Czech politician, former leader of the TOP 09 party and was its candidate for president of the Czech Republic in the 2013 election. He served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies ( ...
, Desmond Tutu
Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop ...
and Grigory Yavlinsky
Grigory Alekseyevich Yavlinsky ( Russian: Григо́рий Алексе́евич Явли́нский; born 10 April 1952) is a Russian economist and politician. He authored the 500 Days Program, a plan for the transition of the Soviet regim ...
—published an article endorsing Liu. A professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Xu Youyu, and others, addressed an open letter "to the European People" in support of Liu, while 14 exiled dissidents urged the Nobel Committee to pass over Liu's nomination, arguing that Liu had maligned other dissidents, forsaken the oppressed Falun Gong
Falun Gong (, ) or Falun Dafa (; literally, "Dharma Wheel Practice" or "Law Wheel Practice") is a new religious movement.Junker, Andrew. 2019. ''Becoming Activists in Global China: Social Movements in the Chinese Diaspora'', pp. 23–24, 33, 119 ...
and that his stance against the Chinese leadership had become too "soft".[MacKinnon, Mark (9 October 2010)]
"Jailed dissident’s Nobel Peace Prize infuriates China"
''The Globe and Mail''. Retrieved 9 October 2010.[Jacobs, Andrew; Ansfield, Jonathan (6 October 2010)]
''The New York Times''. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse (AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency.
AFP has regional headquarters in Nicosia, Montevideo, Hong Kong and Washington, D.C ...
reported that at a June meeting convened by the Chinese embassy in Oslo, Vice Foreign Minister Fu Ying
Fu or FU may refer to:
In arts and entertainment
* Fool Us, Penn & Teller's magic-competition television show
*Fǔ, a type of ancient Chinese vessel
*Fu (poetry) (赋), a Chinese genre of rhymed prose
*'' FU: Friendship Unlimited'', a 2017 Marat ...
warned the Nobel Institute director and secretary of the Nobel Committee, Geir Lundestad
Geir Lundestad (born January 17, 1945) is a Norwegian historian, who until 2014 served as the director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute when Olav Njølstad took over. In this capacity, he also served as the secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Commi ...
, that giving the prize to Liu Xiaobo would be seen as an "unfriendly gesture" that would have negative consequences for relations between Oslo and Beijing.[Ramzy, Austin (8 October 2010)]
"Chinese Dissident Liu Xiaobo Wins Nobel Peace Prize"
''Time''. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
On 7 October 2010, Norwegian television networks reported that Liu Xiaobo was the front-running candidate for the Prize. Irish bookmaker Paddy Power
Paddy Power is an Irish gambling company founded in 1988. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. The business is split into two divisions, UK Ireland (UKI) and International. UKI operations ...
paid out two days before the announcement following an increase in bets. Shortly before the announcement, Liu's wife, Liu Xia, declined telephone interviews, saying the police were at her home. Her telephone went unanswered once the announcement was made.[Garnaut, John (9 October 2010)]
"China furious at Nobel's 'violation'"
''The Age''. Retrieved 9 October 2010. Nobel Committee chairman Thorbjørn Jagland
Thorbjørn Jagland (born Thorbjørn Johansen; , 5 November 1950) is a Norwegian politician from the Labour Party. He served as the secretary general of the Council of Europe from 2009 to 2019. He served as the 32nd prime minister of Norway from ...
made the announcement on 8 October 2010 in Oslo, mentioning that the choice of Liu had become clear early in the process.["Nobel Peace Prize awarded to China dissident Liu Xiaobo"](_blank)
BBC News. 8 October 2010. Retrieved 8 October 2010. The monetary component of the prize would be 10 million Swedish kronor (US$1.5 million).
At 2 pm on the day of announcement, a crowd of about 100 journalists, supporters, and friends who had gathered outside the main entrance to the Beijing housing estate where the Lius resided were denied entry. The ''South China Morning Post'' reported that policemen stationed inside their apartment at the time of the announcement prevented Liu Xia from meeting with journalists and other well-wishers. It was not immediately clear whether Liu Xiaobo was aware of the award. By that time, Liu Xia said she had been told she would be taken to Liaoning to see her husband in prison. Meetings and gatherings to celebrate in several cities were prevented or abruptly broken up by police;[Stack, Megan K. (10 October 2010)]
"Chinese media stay resolutely silent on Nobel winner"
''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved 10 October 2010.[ one such celebration dinner in Beijing, attended by 20 people, was broken up by police, and the attendees were detained.
]
Reactions inside China
Chinese media
The Chinese media avoided the story of Liu's Peace Prize, in marked contrast with their previous announcements of other recipients of Nobel Prizes. The official Xinhua News Agency
Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...
downplayed all but the literature prize, and most other mainland news portals followed the Xinhua lead; popular internet portals such as Sina.com
Sina Corporation (, "new wave") is a Chinese technology company. Sina operates four major business lines: Sina Weibo, Sina Mobile, Sina Online, and Sinanet. Sina has over 100 million registered users worldwide. Sina was recognized by '' South ...
and NetEase deleted pages dedicated to stories related to all five Nobel Prizes.[Clem, Will; Staff reporters (9 October 2010). "News filters through despite censorship". ''South China Morning Post''. "State-owned China Central Television's flagship 7 pm news broadcast made no mention of the Nobel Peace Prize award, a change from the programme's policy in preceding days of announcing other Nobel winners among the day's top headlines. There was also no mention of Liu on the Xinhua homepage. The only references to the Nobel Prizes on the site's opening page referred to the literature award, while a search of the website only brought up a short report about a foreign ministry spokesman denouncing Liu's selection—filed under international news. Most other mainland news portals, including Sina and NetEase, deleted pages dedicated to stories related to the five Nobel Prizes."] According to a well-informed Twitter user, cited by the China Media Project at the University of Hong Kong
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fi ...
, the Information Office of the State Council issued a directive immediately after the announcement that "Liu Xiaobo" and "Peace Prize" would be prohibited search terms for microblog services across the country; fora, blogs and other interactive media were forbidden from releasing any information.['Bei Feng' (11 October 2010)]
"Viewing the Liu Xiaobo response through Twitter"
. Journalism and Media Studies Centre (University of Hong Kong). Retrieved 10 June 2011.["New Directives from the Ministry of Truth"]
''China Digital Times''. 8 October 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2011. At 6 pm, the source said that although the official news release had been issued, all media were ordered by the Central Propaganda Department not to publish it.[
Major domestic newspapers in China had coverage on their inner pages. '' Guangming Daily'', '']Economic Daily
The ''Economic Daily'' () is a Chinese state-owned newspaper focusing on economic reports. Founded in Beijing on January 1, 1983, the newspaper is a deputy ministerial-level institution under the State Council. The newspaper is managed by the Ce ...
'', ''Beijing Daily
''Beijing Daily'' () is the official newspaper of the Beijing municipal committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Founded on October 1, 1952, it has since 2000 been owned by the Beijing Daily Group, which also runs eight other newspapers. It ...
'', ''The Beijing News
''The Beijing News'' is a Chinese Communist Party-owned newspaper from Beijing. The Chinese name of the newspaper is ''Xīn Jīng Bào'' (), meaning "New Beijing News", which is a reference to the defunct '' Peking Gazette'' ().
The Chinese pub ...
'', and Shanghai's ''Wen Hui Bao
''Wenhui Bao'' (), anglicized as the ''Wenhui Daily'',Shanghai Municipal Government"Press Group Celebrates" 26 July 2008. Accessed 18 Dec 2014. is a Chinese daily newspaper published by the Shanghai United Media Group.
History
''Wenhui Bao'' w ...
'' published the Xinhua-sanctioned report the following day.[ China Central Television's main evening news programme, '']Xinwen Lianbo
''Xinwen Lianbo'' (, literally News Simulcast) is a daily news programme produced by China Central Television (CCTV), a state broadcaster. It is shown simultaneously by all local TV stations in mainland China, making it one of the world's most ...
'', did not report on it.[ Chinese journalists and dissidents said the Central Propaganda Department had instructed media to censor or otherwise under-report on Liu Xiaobo and the peace prize award.][
The Chinese government ordered the deletion of all print and broadcast stories on the topic;] In an editorial, the Communist Party–run ''Global Times
The ''Global Times'' () is a daily tabloid newspaper under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party's flagship newspaper, the ''People's Daily'', commenting on international issues from a Chinese ultra-nationalistic perspective. The publi ...
'' attacked the Nobel Peace Prize as a "political tool of Western interests" that was being used to foment "endless political strife in Chinese society, causing a Soviet-style breakup."[Ramzy, Austin (11 October 2010)]
"In China, news about Nobel winner Liu Xiaobo is scarce"
''Time''. Retrieved 9 October 2010. Another ''Global Times'' article said the award was "another expression of this prejudice, and behind it lies an extraordinary terror of China's rise and the Chinese model". It said the award was a concerted ideologically motivated attack on China's economic interests by developed nations and foreign business interests who "even hope that China will one day collapse under the West's ideological crusade."
Foreign broadcast coverage, such as from the BBC and CNN, was blacked out whenever Liu was mentioned.[Jiang, Steven (8 October 2010)]
"China blanks Nobel Peace prize searches"
CNN. Retrieved 8 October 2010. In Guangdong, signal carriers for Hong Kong TVB
Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and ...
were interrupted for approximately eight minutes during the 6 pm evening news programme, blocking the news item for the Nobel Peace Prize.[
After a week of denunciation in China's English-language media, with most journals silent about the award except for perfunctory quotes from the foreign ministry, the country's Chinese-language media launched a concerted assault on Liu and the award, accompanied by renewed attacks in the English-language media.][Staff reporter (18 October 2010). "Anti-Liu Chinese campaign starts". ''South China Morning Post''. Agence France-Presse.] Xinhua argued on 17 October that the Communist Party had made "unremitting efforts to promote and safeguard human rights", and questioned how Liu's actions had contributed to human rights progress for the Chinese people. The agency cited a journal from Saudi Arabia, and one from Russia, that had denounced the award; it quoted the Pakistani Foreign Office as saying, "the politicization of the Nobel Peace Prize for the purposes of interference in the domestic affairs of states is not only contrary to the recognized principles of inter-State conduct, but also a negation of the underlying spirit conceived by the founder of the Prize." In what was described by Chinese media–watchers as a surprise because of its historical professionalism, ''China Youth Daily
The ''China Youth Daily'' () is the newspaper of the Communist Youth League of China since 1951 with editorial and financial independence in the People's Republic of China.
In the 1980s, it was regarded as the best newspaper in mainland China wi ...
'' published an article containing Beijing students' expressions of anger and disbelief over the decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu. The journal employed the traditional hard-liner phrase "people with ulterior motives" (别有用心的人)—directed to at least one student. It further denounced the "farcical" Nobel decision to use the award as "a tool ... in their relentless effort to undermine China and frustrate its development".[Bandurski, David (19 October 2010)]
"China Youth Daily attacks Liu Xiaobo Nobel"
. Journalism and Media Studies Centre (University of Hong Kong). Retrieved 10 June 2011.
The ''Beijing Daily'' published an editorial on the day of the award ceremony entitled "Why not give the peace prize to Julian Assange?". It suggested that Assange, the head of WikiLeaks, was not awarded the prize because he could not "become a tool for Western forces in attacking countries with different ideologies ... even if this tool is serving out a prison sentence for violating the law."
Central government
Following the announcement on 8 October 2010, Xinhua relayed the Russian state-owned news agency's denunciation of the prize. China summoned the Norwegian ambassador in Beijing "to officially share their opinion, their disagreement and their protest." A PRC foreign ministry spokesman accused politicians from "some countries" for using the award to further their own political agendas: "This is not only disrespect for China's judicial system but also puts a big question mark on their true intention." The ministry's statement, labelling the decision "a blasphemy", was carried on Chinese state television.
China protested to Norway, saying that China–Norway relations had been damaged.[Branigan, Tania (8 October 2010)]
"Liu Xiaobo Nobel win prompts Chinese fury"
''The Guardian''. Retrieved 8 October 2010. A planned meeting in Beijing between Norwegian Fisheries Minister Lisbeth Berg-Hansen
Lisbeth Berg-Hansen (born 14 March 1963) is a Norwegian businessperson and politician for the Labour Party.
She chaired the Norwegian Seafood Federation from 2002 to 2005, and was Vice President of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise from ...
and Chinese food control authorities was cancelled at the last minute, ostensibly because their counterparts had "other engagements"; Norwegian officials said that a meeting, due to be held the same day between Berg-Hansen and the Chinese vice-minister for fisheries, had been cancelled in reaction to the award. Elsewhere, performances of a Norwegian musical starring Alexander Rybak
Alexander Igorevich Rybak (russian: Александр Игоревич Рыбак) or Alyaxandr Iharavich Rybak ( be, Аляксандр Ігаравіч Рыбак; born 13 May 1986) is a Belarusian-Norwegian singer-composer, violinist, pian ...
scheduled for the following month also fell victim to the diplomatic fallout, according to the composer. In early December, Norway said its bilateral trade talks with China had been delayed indefinitely. Haakon Hjelde, Norway's negotiator, reported that the postponement was not directly linked to the award, but Henning Kristofferson, director of international relations of the BI Norwegian School of Management
BI Norwegian Business School () is the largest business school in Norway and the second largest in all of Europe. BI has in total four campuses with the main one located in Oslo. The university has 845 employees consisting of an academic staff of ...
, said it was fairly obvious that the PRC government would "never hold a high-level meeting with Norway shortly before or after the award ceremony", having made it plain that the award to Liu was "a big mistake."[Fouche, Gwladys; Gibbs, Walter (30 November 2010)]
"China postpones Norway talks as Nobel tensions rise"
Reuters. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
Law enforcement
In the days immediately preceding the award ceremony, foreign media reported that Liu's home was under tight security. By what a correspondent for ''The Guardian'' called "a peculiar coincidence", construction barriers were erected on both sides of the road at the southern entrance of the residential complex which obscured the estate.[Branigan, Tania (10 December 2010)]
"Nobel winner Liu Xiaobo's wife missing, as couple's home vanishes too"
''The Guardian''. Retrieved 14 September 2011. Police cars were positioned on every nearby street corner; uniformed and plain-clothes police officers patrolled outside the apartment block, and a radio surveillance vehicle was stationed at the entrance to the compound. Neighbouring businesses were affected: the owner of a nearby restaurant was quoted as saying government officials had told him to close the business temporarily.[Ng, Tze-wei (11 December 2010). "Relatives, dissidents, the internet and the media bow under heavy hand of Beijing". ''South China Morning Post''.]
Liu Xia was under house-arrest almost immediately after the announcement, and was escorted to Liaoning to visit her imprisoned husband. She reported that she was denied visitors, her telephones were repeatedly down, and complained that even her elderly mother had not been able to get through to her. Visitors were denied entrance to her residential compound, including Norwegian diplomats who had tried to visit her on 12 October; she was able to send out a few messages through Twitter. Chinese police stationed there cordoned off the area.[ Thus, journalists and well-wishers were kept at bay for several hours after the announcement; as she was being taken away to see her husband, ]Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was estab ...
heard her say "they are forcing me to leave Beijing".[Baculinao, Eric; Gu, Bo (8 October 2010)]
"In China, citizens find ways to learn of Nobel prize"
NBC News
Archived
2 December 2011.[ Dissident groups reported on 18 October that numerous supporters and associates of Liu may have been detained by police—that Tiananmen Mother ]Ding Zilin
Ding Zilin (; born December 20, 1936 or January 1, 1939) is a retired professor of philosophy and the leader of the political activist group Tiananmen Mothers. Ding is the mother of Jiang Jielian, one of the first student protestors killed dur ...
, and her husband Jiang Peikun, had not been seen or heard of for four days, and that their phones were cut off. Writer Jiang Qisheng went missing just days after the Nobel announcement.
As exiled prominent activists and former activists were reportedly preparing to attend the award ceremony, some prominent individuals and activists inside China experienced travel problems. Economist Mao Yushi
Mao Yushi (; born 14 January 1929 in Nanjing, Jiangsu) is a Chinese economist. Mao graduated from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 1950 and was labeled a 'rightist' in 1958. In 1986, Mao was a visiting scholar at Harvard University, and in 1990 ...
(who had signed ''Charter 08''), Ai Weiwei
Ai Weiwei (, ; born 28 August 1957) is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been openly c ...
, and the human-rights lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan were all barred from outbound travel at Beijing's airport, ostensibly because their departure from China could "endanger state security".[">"Cerimônia do Nobel reunirá toda oposição chinesa no exílio [Nobel Ceremony will bring together all Chinese opposition in exile]
/nowiki>"] . Terra Networks. Olhardireto. 5 December 2010. Retrieved 6 September 2011.[ Liu's lawyer, Mo Shaoping, and Peking University law professor He Weifang were stopped from boarding their flight to London in November. The ''South China Morning Post'' reported that even the spouses and children of some outspoken intellectuals experienced outbound travel restrictions.][Yu, Verna (4 December 2010). "Who's who of dissidents heads to Nobel ritual". ''South China Morning Post''.] Ai speculated that the refusal to let him board a flight for Korea may have been directly connected with the following week's prize-giving ceremony. Chinese Human Rights Defenders also believed that "officials are increasing their efforts to bar prominent members of Chinese civil society from travelling internationally as the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony approaches."["China stops prominent artist from Korea visit"]
''Daily News and Analysis''. Reuters. 3 December 2010. Retrieved 14 September 2011. The BBC, citing the UN, said there was information that China had detained at least 20 activists prior to the ceremony; it reported sources saying that 120 more activists were subjected to house arrest, travel restrictions, forced relocations, or "other acts of intimidation" ahead of the ceremony; external Chinese sources put the figure of people so restricted at approximately 270.
Liu Xia and Liu Xiaobo
Liu Xia expressed her gratitude to the Nobel Committee, Liu's proposers, and those who have been supporting him since 1989, including the Tiananmen Mothers The Tiananmen Mothers ( zh, 天安门母亲) is a group of Chinese democracy activists promoting a change in the government's position over the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. It is led by Ding Zilin, a retired university professor whos ...
—family members or representatives of those who were killed, or had disappeared, in the military crackdown of the protests of 4 June 1989. She said, "The prize should belong to all who signed ''Charter 08'' and were jailed due to their support".
Liu Xia informed the laureate of his award during a visit to Jinzhou Prison on 9 October 2010, one day after the official announcement. She reported that Liu wept and dedicated the award to those who suffered as a result of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989,["Wife visits jailed Chinese Nobel winner Liu Xiaobo"](_blank)
BBC News. 10 October 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2010. saying: "The award is first and foremost for the Tiananmen martyrs"[ After Ms. Liu returned home, she was put under house arrest and was watched by armed guards.]["劉曉波:這個獎」是給天安門亡靈的「_[Liu_Xiaobo:_The_award_is_for_the_Tiananmen_martyrs]
/nowiki>".html" ;"title="iu Xiaobo: The award is for the Tiananmen martyrs">"劉曉波:這個獎」是給天安門亡靈的「 iu_Xiaobo:_The_award_is_for_the_Tiananmen_martyrs">"劉曉波:這個獎」是給天安門亡靈的「_[Liu_Xiaobo:_The_award_is_for_the_Tiananmen_martyrs
/nowiki>"._BBC_News._10_October_2010._Retrieved_6_September_2011.Staff_reporters_(11_October_2010)._"Tearful_Liu_dedicates_prize_to_martyrs"._''South_China_Morning_Post''._She_expressed_the_desire_to_attend_the_prize-giving_in_Norway_in_December,_but_was_sceptical_of_her_chances_of_being_allowed_to_do_so._Liu_Xia_wrote_an_open_letter_to_143_prominent_figures,_encouraging_them_to_attend_the_award_ceremony_in_Oslo.Criscione,_Valeria_(27_October_2010)
"Was_China_behind_cyber_attack_on_Nobel_Peace_Prize_website?"
_''The_Christian_Science_Monitor''._Retrieved_10_November_2010.
_Intellectuals
John_Pomfret_(journalist).html" ;"title="iu Xiaobo: The award is for the Tiananmen martyrs
/nowiki>"">iu Xiaobo: The award is for the Tiananmen martyrs">"劉曉波:這個獎」是給天安門亡靈的「 [Liu Xiaobo: The award is for the Tiananmen martyrs
/nowiki>". BBC News. 10 October 2010. Retrieved 6 September 2011.[Staff reporters (11 October 2010). "Tearful Liu dedicates prize to martyrs". ''South China Morning Post''.] She expressed the desire to attend the prize-giving in Norway in December, but was sceptical of her chances of being allowed to do so. Liu Xia wrote an open letter to 143 prominent figures, encouraging them to attend the award ceremony in Oslo.[Criscione, Valeria (27 October 2010)]
"Was China behind cyber attack on Nobel Peace Prize website?"
''The Christian Science Monitor''. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
Intellectuals
John Pomfret (journalist)">John Pomfret of ''The Washington Post'' said a wide spectrum of Chinese and foreigners believed that Liu's award "could actually resonate more deeply within China than any similar act in years".[Pomfret, John (8 October 2010)]
"China's Liu Xiaobo wins Nobel Peace Prize"
''The Washington Post''. Retrieved 10 June 2011. The open letter by Xu Youyu ''et al'', which described Liu as "a splendid choice" because of his advancement of human rights causes and the peaceful fight against social injustice, amassed signatures from about 200 mainland intellectuals and activists; it was posted in Chinese, English, French and Japanese on websites hosted outside China.[Henderson, Tony (16 October 2010)]
"China's media warms to the moment as activists join hands to free Liu"
. Pressenza. Retrieved 8 September 2011.[Staff reporter (16 October 2010). "Free Liu, intellectuals urge Beijing". ''South China Morning Post''.] Artist and critic Ai Weiwei
Ai Weiwei (, ; born 28 August 1957) is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been openly c ...
said that, although the regime ought to feel the most ashamed, "intellectuals who had drifted away from their public responsibilities" should bear some of that burden for betraying values they once strove for. Ai said that the Prize was a message from the international community to the Chinese government to respect universal human values, notwithstanding China's economic performance.[Staff reporters (10 October 2010). "Proud or shamed: intellectuals react to Nobel win". ''South China Morning Post''.] Writer Liao Yiwu Liao may refer to:
Chinese history
* Liao (Zhou dynasty state) (蓼), two states in ancient China during the Spring and Autumn period in the 8th and 7th centuries BC
* Liao of Wu (吳王僚) (died 515 BC), king of Wu during ancient China's Spring a ...
, a close friend of Liu, described it as "a big moment in Chinese history". Another writer, Yu Jie
Yu Jie (), is a Chinese-American writer and Calvinist democracy activist. The bestselling author of more than 30 books, Yu was described by the ''New York Review of Books'' in 2012 as "one of China's most prominent essayists and critics".
Yu Ji ...
, said he spent the night awake with tears streaming down his face – "Twenty years ago Liu Xiaobo said that China needed someone with moral clarity about what China needs. Now he has become just that person, that he himself was looking for", he said. Former Chinese diplomat Yang Hengjun described it as a strong signal to the Chinese government to speed up political reform "or you will have a lot of enemies around you and within you."
Exiled 1989 student leader Wang Dan said he was "ecstatic". Human rights lawyer Li Heping called the award "huge encouragement for the Chinese people ... an affirmation that there are people around the world who really care about human rights and the legal system in China, that the world hasn't forgotten us." He added that others, such as Gao Zhisheng
Gao Zhisheng (born 20 April 1964) is a Chinese human rights attorney and dissident known for defending activists and religious minorities and documenting human rights abuses in China. Because of his work, Zhisheng has been disbarred and det ...
, Chen Guangcheng
Chen Guangcheng (born November 12, 1971) is a Chinese civil rights activist who has worked on human rights issues in rural areas of the People's Republic of China. Blind from an early age and self-taught in the law, Chen is frequently descr ...
, and Hu Jia, also deserved the prize. ''The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'' said that while many activists agreed he was worthy of the award, some radical reformers within Chinese democracy movement
Democracy movements of China are a series of organized political movements, inside and outside of China, addressing a variety of grievances, including objections to socialist bureaucratism and objections to the continuation of the one-party ru ...
,[ such as ]Wei Jingsheng
Wei Jingsheng (; born 20 May 1950) is a Chinese human rights activist and dissident. He is best known for his involvement in the Chinese democracy movement. He is most prominent for having authored the essay "The Fifth Modernization", which wa ...
, see the moderate Liu as the wrong choice due to his advocacy of a gradual path to constitutional democracy in China.
Renmin University
The Renmin University of China (RUC; ) is a national key public research university in Beijing, China. The university is affiliated to the Ministry of Education, and co-funded by the Ministry and the Beijing Municipal People's Government.
RUC ...
professor Zhang Ming felt the award would not have much direct impact. However, economist Mao Yushi
Mao Yushi (; born 14 January 1929 in Nanjing, Jiangsu) is a Chinese economist. Mao graduated from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 1950 and was labeled a 'rightist' in 1958. In 1986, Mao was a visiting scholar at Harvard University, and in 1990 ...
believed that there were many factors affecting political reform in China. He stated that the prize was an impetus from the international community for the process of reform that was already under way, and that the impact of the award to Liu would be felt by the current generation of leaders, and beyond.[
]
Internet community
Liu was once an eminent scholar, but was reportedly little-known inside the People's Republic of China (PRC) at the time of the award due to official censorship.[ Those who had heard about Liu had mixed views about him. Some clearly supported the government position, whereas one university student was quoted as saying "]George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...
probably had no idea that what he wrote would end up being the reality of China now."[Blanchard, Ben (10 December 2010)]
"Beijing residents wonder: Liu Xiao-who?"
Reuters. Retrieved 8 September 2011. "Liu Xiaobo" and "Nobel Peace Prize" became the most searched terms among internet users in China.[ However, some time after the release of the official response from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, government censors screened the news item, and there were reports of searches in China using Chinese search engines returning error pages.] Web searches using Chinese search engines for "Liu Xiaobo" in Chinese without attaching the words "Peace Prize," gave information about Liu. Yet most sites found "Liu" plus "Peace Prize" yield only the official foreign ministry response.[Stack, Megan K. (10 October 2010)]
"Chinese media stay resolutely silent on Nobel winner"
''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved 27 October 2011. CNN reported that any mention of "Nobel Prize" on microblogging
Microblogging is a form of social network that permits only short posts. They "allow users to exchange small elements of content such as short sentences, individual images, or video links",. Retrieved June 5, 2014 which may be the major reason for ...
sites was censored. One person claimed that his SIM card
file:SIM-Karte von Telefónica O2 Europe - Standard und Micro.jpg, A typical SIM card (mini-SIM with micro-SIM cutout)
file:Sim card.png, A smart card taken from a Global System for Mobile Communications, GSM mobile phone
file:Simkarte NFC SecureE ...
was deactivated after he sent a text message to a relative about the Nobel Peace Prize. Accustomed to circumventing Chinese internet censorship, bloggers and forum-users used variants of Liu's name and posted subtle or cryptic messages to express their elation about the award or sarcasm towards the state. The statement on 8 October by blogger Han Han
Han Han (born September 23, 1982) is a Chinese best-selling author, professional rally driver, singer, creator of ''Party'', One (App magazine) and China's most popular blogger. He has published seven novels to date, and is represented by the ...
consisted of only a pair of double quote marks.[Bandurski, David (9 October 2010)]
"Nobel languishes behind bars"
. Journalism and Media Studies Centre (University of Hong Kong). Retrieved 10 June 2011.
Less than three weeks after the announcement of the award to Liu, the Nobel Peace Prize website came under a cyber attack
A cyberattack is any offensive maneuver that targets computer information systems, computer networks, infrastructures, or personal computer devices. An attacker is a person or process that attempts to access data, functions, or other restricted ...
.[ There was an attempt to hack into the computer of the secretary of the Nobel Committee, Geir Lundestad by a forged email on 3 November.]["New cyber attack linked to Nobel Peace Prize"](_blank)
Agence France-Presse. ABS-CBM News. 11 November 2010. Retrieved 15 September 2011 A number of individuals received an email containing a trojan horse
The Trojan Horse was a wooden horse said to have been used by the Greeks during the Trojan War to enter the city of Troy and win the war. The Trojan Horse is not mentioned in Homer's ''Iliad'', with the poem ending before the war is concluded, ...
purportedly disguised as a pdf-file invitation to the award ceremony from the Oslo Freedom Forum
Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF) is a series of global conferences run by the New York-based non-profit Human Rights Foundation under the slogan "Challenging Power". OFF was founded in 2009 as a one-time event and has taken place annually ever since. On ...
. Investigators traced both the attack and the email to an intermediate server reportedly in a Taiwanese university. Experts say the address had been falsified, and the exact origin was unknown; it was emphasised that no link to any party in mainland China could be established. After activists posted photographs of a symbolic empty chair on Internet fora and noticeboards, censors responded by removing the images and making "empty chair" a banned search term.["Empty Chairs On the Cover of Southern Metropolis Daily Interpreted as Nobel Tribute"](_blank)
''China Digital Times''. December 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
Hong Kong
Many political groups—including the Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
and the Hong Kong Journalists Association
The Hong Kong Journalists Association ( Chinese: 香港記者協會) is a Hong Kong association that represents journalists in Hong Kong. Established in 1968, the association acts as a trade union for journalists by seeking to improve work ...
—welcomed the decision and congratulated Liu.[">"各國促北京釋放劉曉波;諾獎委會:中國貴為強國 要受更大督促 [States urge Beijing to release Liu; Nobel Committee: China, as superpower, deserves more scrutiny](_blank)
/nowiki>"] . News.hotpot.hk. 9 October 2010. 13 October 2010. The Journalists Association expressed their gratitude and encouragement for Liu's award, and their hope for the early unconditional release of Liu. Hong Kong's Chief Executive, Donald Tsang
Sir Donald Tsang Yam-kuen (; born 7 October 1944) is a former Hong Kong civil servant who served as the second Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2005 to 2012.
Tsang joined the colonial civil service as an Executive Officer in 1967, occupyi ...
, and government ministers Leung Chun-ying
Leung Chun-ying (; born 12 August 1954), also known as CY Leung, is a Hong Kong politician and chartered surveyor, who has served as vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference since Ma ...
, and Gregory So
Gregory So Kam-leung () is the former Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of Hong Kong.
Education
So holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Carleton University and a double degree of Master of business administration an ...
, all declined to comment to the press.
The ''South China Morning Post
The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remained ...
'' in Hong Kong said Liu's courage to stand up for the rights of all people—for the fourth time since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests—made him worthy of joining the company of other similarly persecuted peace prize recipients such as Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...
: "Liu is just one of a long line of like-minded Chinese citizens to be silenced. The award will be seen in many quarters as acknowledging their sacrifice for the values it upholds." Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television
Phoenix Television is a majority state-owned television network that offers Mandarin and Cantonese-language channels that serve mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and other markets with substantial Chinese-language viewers. It is operated by ...
, which transmits throughout mainland China by satellite, limited its report to the foreign ministry's statement denouncing the honour.
About twenty activists held a celebration in front of the central government liaison office. Their celebration was broken up and the activists were arrested for assault after a guard was accidentally sprayed with champagne. A human rights monitor, and a Democratic Party legislator, denounced the "absurd" reaction of the police.[CNN Wire Staff (11 October 2010)]
"Celebrating Nobel, woman arrested for splashing champagne"
CNN. Retrieved 15 October 2010. The Speaker of Hong Kong's legislature turned down an adjournment motion on 15 October submitted by Leung Kwok-hung
Leung Kwok-hung ( zh, t=梁國雄; born 27 March 1956), also known by his nickname "Long Hair" (), is a Hong Kong politician and social activist. He was a member of the Legislative Council, representing the New Territories East. A Trotskyi ...
that called for the release of Liu on grounds that such debate "lacked urgency and would not produce irreversible consequences". On 17 October, thirty supporters of the —organisers of the annual commemoration of the 1989 Tiananmen protests—held a march to the central government liaison office, calling on the central government to release Liu and allow him to attend the prize-giving in December. A candlelight ceremony was held in the city's central business district to coincide with the award ceremony; organisers said 1,000 people attended.[ "有線:直播安排無人可改_[CableTV_:_no-one_can_change_our_live_broadcast_plan]
/nowiki>".html" ;"title="ableTV : no-one can change our live broadcast plan">"有線:直播安排無人可改 ableTV_:_no-one_can_change_our_live_broadcast_plan">"有線:直播安排無人可改_[CableTV_:_no-one_can_change_our_live_broadcast_plan
/nowiki>"_._Sina._11_December_2010._Retrieved_16_September_2011.
The_Chinese-language_press_reported_on_rumours_that_Chinese_officials_had_approached_high-level_executives_at_TVB_
Television_Broadcasts_Limited_(TVB)_is_a__television_broadcasting_company_based_in__Hong_Kong_SAR._The_Company_operates_five_free-to-air__terrestrial_television_channels_in_Hong_Kong,_with__TVB_Jade_as_its_main_Cantonese_language_service,_and_...
_and_Cable_TV_Hong_Kong">CableTV,_asking_them_not_to_broadcast_the_ceremony_live_on_their_channels;_executives_affirmed_their_plans_to_broadcast—scheduling_for_the_event_was_immutable._TVB_News_and_Now_TV_(China).html" "title="Cable_TV_Hong_Kong.html" ;"title="ableTV : no-one can change our live broadcast plan