I think in future Chinese history books, it will be noted that countries that are true friends of China were present at the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony.
100多年的諾貝爾和平獎中,有三個先例是由家屬代表領獎的,無人領獎的則只有 75年前獲 1935年諾貝爾和平獎的德國記者、作家奧西埃茨基( Carl von Ossietzky)。他當年也因叛國罪被囚禁在納粹德國的監獄中。他獲獎消息傳來,希特勒不僅不准他出國,也同時頒令不准德國人接受諾貝爾獎。希特勒又因此設立德國國家藝術與科學獎,以取代諾貝爾獎。這情形同 75年後中國官方報章提出要設立「孔子和平獎」來針對諾貝爾和平獎如出一轍。 1939年瑞典有一名議員諷刺性地提名希特勒為和平獎候選人,相信中國的「孔子和平獎」也會有人厚顏提出中國領導人獲此中國特色的和平獎。
I had dared not to dream of this morning’s announcement but it is finally true.
Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波) has been announced as the winner of Nobel Peace Prize 2010 “for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China”.
The quest for Chinese democracy is truly a long struggle (山長水遠的鬥爭). Because of Mr. Liu‘s ill health for being locked in Chinese prison for so many years, it is important for citizens and governments of the world to demand Mr. Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波) to be released from prison now.
– Here is an earlier article/interview “Chinese dissident tipped for Nobel Peace Prize“, published three days ago on Oct 5th, showing a bit of Canadian involvement and inspiration that is worth quoting here (emphasis added),
“But recently, Liu Xia revealed, she has taken some strength from words by Canadian author Margaret Atwood.
Writing to friends in Hong Kong last month to thank them for supporting her husband, Liu Xia cited words from a speech that Atwood delivered in April on receiving an award from PEN America, an organization that works to defend free expression.
“Atwood spoke of how silence and secrecy allow the worst horrors to breed,” she said, “and how sooner or later the hidden stories in a society have to come out.
“Atwood then went on to say, ‘The messengers in such cases are seldom welcome — yet they are necessary and must be protected.’”
“Of course,” said Liu Xia, “my husband is one of those messengers.”
And yet his winning a Nobel Peace Prize is one message the Chinese government doesn’t want to hear.
In fact, last summer the Chinese government sent an envoy to Norway to directly threaten the Nobel Committee if it dared to give the award to a Chinese dissident.“
“The Norwegian Nobel Committee said Friday it awarded the peace prize to imprisoned Chinese pro-democracy activist Liu Xiaobo for his fight for human rights in China, but there is no mention of it in Chinese media. Access to news segments broadcast on CNN and BBC International, normally available, have been blocked by government censors, aiming to thwart widespread knowledge of the prize.
China’s Web censors have deleted chatter from Liu’s colleagues, as well as China’s intellectuals and elite, that began to spread on China’s blogs and message boards only minutes after the news broke. On Sina, personal comments that referred to Liu as LXB or Liu Liu, avoiding his full name, disappeared an hour after having been posted. Remarks that said, “He won,” are no longer visible.”
Rights groups suspect the date of the verdict, Christmas day, was chosen to reduce international attention to the case.
Diplomats from the United States, Canada, Australia and several European countries were among those who stood outside during Liu’s trial Wednesday, after they were denied entry to the court house.
China has denounced the foreign diplomats for what it calls “meddling.” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters Thursday that Liu is a Chinese citizen and, as a result, his case is an “internal” affair.
Liu has been in detention for more than a year for his role in writing the pro-democracy manifesto called “Charter 08.”
The U.S. State Department said Wednesday that China’s prosecution of Liu is an action “uncharacteristic of a great country.” A State Department spokesman, P.J. Crowley, said the U.S. will continue to have frank discussions with China about human rights and China’s future.
Prof. Liu Xiaobo YouTube video at PEN American Center,
但是當我一想起你任內被捕、被禁、被整頓的媒體和異見人士,如劉曉波先生、程翔先生、《冰點》雜誌、《南方都市報》等等時,我卻又不得不質疑你作為純真善良小朋友學習對象的資格!難道我們國家的教育,是要教小朋友與其他人意見不合時就要對付對方,而非講求中國人千百年來堅持的仁義觀?
近日被政府盯中的是許志永先生和他所領導的「公盟」。 Read the rest of this entry »