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Nobel Prize of 2010 In Peace
By KTM Metro Reporter
October 8, 2010: the Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the Nobel Prize of 201 in peace to Liu Xiaobo for using non-violence to demand fundamental human rights in his homeland. China has strongly reacted to the Noble Peace prize awarded to the dissident that has participated in the protest rally in 1989 on the Tiananmen Square in Beijing. A local court in Beijing has convicted him of agitation aimed at subverting the government and sentenced him to 11 years in jail on Dec. 25, 2009.
News.xinhuanet.com in its news has stated that awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to China's Liu Xiaobo desecrated the prize and could harm China-Norway ties, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry Ma Zhaoxu said on Friday, October 8, 2010.
The Nobel Peace Prize should be awarded to people who contribute to national harmony, country-to-country friendship, advancing disarmament, and convening and propagandizing peace conferences, Ma said. He claimed this was the wish of Alfred Nobel, founder of the Nobel Prizes but Liu was a criminal sentenced by the Chinese judicial authorities for violating Chinese law. The Nobel committee's decision to award such a person the peace prize ran contrary to and desecrated the prize, he said. Awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu might harm China-Norway ties, Ma said.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere has said that the Norwegian Nobel Committee is independent of the Norwegian government; the government cannot influence it; so, the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo should not deteriorate the relations between the two countries.
The Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile have congratulated Liu Xiaobo for receiving the Noble Prize of 2010 in peace for his relentless peaceful fight for the fundamental human rights of the Chinese people.
Obama hailed the Nobel committee's decision:
"I welcome the Nobel Committee's decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Mr. Liu Xiaobo. Last year, I noted that so many others who have received the award had sacrificed so much more than I. That list now includes Mr. Liu, who has sacrificed his freedom for his beliefs. By granting the prize to Mr. Liu, the Nobel Committee has chosen someone who has been an eloquent and courageous spokesman for the advance of universal values through peaceful and non-violent means, including his support for democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.
As I said last year in Oslo, even as we respect the unique culture and traditions of different countries, America will always be a voice for those aspirations that are universal to all human beings. Over the last 30 years, China has made dramatic progress in economic reform and improving the lives of its people, lifting hundreds of millions out of poverty. But this award reminds us that political reform has not kept pace, and that the basic human rights of every man, woman and child must be respected. We call on the Chinese government to release Mr. Liu as soon as possible."
