Liu Xiao Bo: awarded Nobel Peace Prize

[dark_phoenix]

---

Oslo, Norway (CNN) -- An imprisoned Chinese dissident was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway Friday as groups of protesters gathered outside the Norwegian Embassy and United Nations offices in Beijing.

China has responded furiously since the Nobel committee announced on October 8 that Liu Xiaobo would be its peace prize winner. Officials have repeatedly called Liu a common criminal and declared the award a Western plot against China.

Liu, a professor of literature, is serving an 11-year sentence in a Chinese prison for what the government called "inciting subversion of state power." He was not allowed to travel to Norway to accept the prize, nor was his wife, Liu Xia.

Nobel committee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland, in awarding the prize Friday, likened Liu Xiaobo to Nelson Mandela, the former South African president who fought the apartheid regime.

Jagland commended China for lifting millions out of poverty, but said democracy and free speech must go hand in hand with its economic development.

Past Nobel Peace Prize winners Nobel Peace Prize politics Jailed dissident wins Nobel prize
"China, too, will grow stronger if its people are granted civil rights," Jagland said.

While Chinese officials have said the prize represents a Western perspective, Jagland said, human rights activists in China "represent the world's common values and standards."
He added that Liu has done nothing wrong and "must be released."
Following the announcement in Oslo, China called the awarding of the Peace Prize to Liu a "political farce."
"The decision of the Norwegian Nobel Committee does not represent the wish of the majority of the people in the world, particularly that of the developing countries," said Jiang Yu, a Chinese Foreign Ministry official.

As the awards ceremony was getting under way, a large number of officers stood guard outside the west central Beijing apartment complex where Liu's wife has been under house arrest since her husband's award was announced. Journalists were cordoned off in a small area next to the building.
The police presence outside the Norwegian Embassy in Beijing had also increased early Friday.
An empty chair represented Liu at the Nobel ceremony, the second time such a symbol has been used in the event. After announcing the award, Jagland placed Liu's medal in the empty chair.
Before the ceremony, some Twitter users who listed their location as Beijing had changed their profile pictures to an emtpy chair.

Jagland said Thursday that the award is not a protest.
"It is a signal to China that it would be very important for China's future to combine economic development with political reforms and it is support for those people in China who are struggling for basic human rights," Jagland told reporters.

Beijing also put pressure on its allies and other countries not to attend the peace prize ceremony, and it hastily announced its own honor -- the Confucius Peace Prize, which was awarded Thursday to former Taiwanese Vice President Lien Chan. That award was accepted by a 6-year-old girl on Lien's behalf. Lien did not know about the prize, his office said.
Amnesty International said it had received reports from "reliable sources" that Chinese diplomats in Norway have been pressuring Chinese residents into joining anti-Nobel demonstrations when the award ceremony is held Friday.

On Thursday, the U.N.'s human rights chief called for Liu's release from prison and criticized what she said were "recent restrictions placed on an ever-widening circle" of the dissident's associates.
"In recent weeks, my office has received reports of at least 20 activists being arrested or detained and more than 120 other cases of house arrest, travel restrictions, forced relocations and other acts of intimidation," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay told reporters.
Jagland said the committee expected a "harsh reaction" from Beijing.

But "we are very glad to see that two-thirds of the nations that have embassies in Oslo will be attending the ceremony, and most of them are very big, very important countries," he added.
Among those attending was U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was part of the official delegation on behalf of Liu and his wife.
Of the 19 countries that declined to come to Friday's ceremony -- including China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iraq and Iran -- Jagland said Thursday that two had reconsidered: Ukraine and the Philippines.

But the state-run China Daily newspaper reported Friday that "most nations" had expressed their support for China's stance, citing a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman.
The spokeswoman, Jiang Yu, said the award would not change the fact that "Liu committed crimes."
Friday's ceremony included songs by a children's choir -- a special request made by Liu through his wife, according to Lundestad. And Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann was on hand to read one of Liu's "most interesting and beautiful texts," Jagland said.

Jagland predicted that keeping Liu, 54, in prison for the entirety of his 11-year sentence may prove impossible after the prize was awarded.

"The pressure from the outside world will be on China to release him. In today's world, it is totally impossible to close a country. We already know that a lot of Chinese know about the prize, and this is creating a huge pressure on China," Jagland said.

Several foreign news websites -- including CNN and BBC -- were blocked in mainland China Thursday and Friday.

Broadcasts of CNN International are being blacked out intermittently, when news of the peace prize is reported. CNN reports about China's new Confucius Peace Prize have not been blocked.

Internet companies in China are treating Chinese characters for "Liu Xiaobo," "Nobel," and peace prize as "sensitive words," said Jeremy Goldkorn, editor of Danwei.org -- a website about Chinese media and Internet. Acting on government instructions, the companies are deleting text containing those words, preventing such text from being uploaded, or returning no results on searches for the words, he said.
"I think the main aim is to reduce the chances of Chinese citizens seeing that the Liu Xiaobo Nobel Prize is big news internationally, and to make it more difficult for articles sympathetic to Liu Xiaobo and photos of him to be copied and circulated inside China," Goldkorn said.

The last time an empty chair was used to represent an absent winner was when German peace activist Carl von Ossietzky won the 1935 award, according to Geir Lundestad, director of the Nobel Institute. Ossietzky was under "protective custody" in Nazi Germany and could not come to accept the award in person, nor was he represented by anyone.

Three other Nobel peace laureates were also unable to attend their ceremonies for political reasons -- human rights activist Aung San Suu Kyi, Polish trade union leader Lech Walesa, and Russian Cold War dissident Andrei Sakharov -- but spouses or other relatives accepted the awards on their behalf.

Chinese dissident awarded Nobel Peace Prize - CNN.com

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The Chinese government have to suck it up.

[elvishtattoo]

suck it up mulang!

[dark_phoenix]

[B]Anger as Philippines says will skip Nobel ceremony[/B]
MANILA—(UPDATE) The Philippines on Thursday defended its decision to skip the Nobel peace prize ceremony for Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, as rights groups accused it of succumbing to bullying from China.

The decision by one of Asia's most vibrant democracies to stay away from Friday's event in Norway comes as it seeks to build stronger military and economic ties with communist China.

Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Eduardo Malaya said the Philippines would not be represented at the ceremony because the country's ambassador to Norway was away on a consular mission.

"Our ambassador to Norway has a scheduling conflict," he told AFP.

A spokesman for President Benigno Aquino gave the same reason, but two senior government officials admitted that the Philippines had boycotted the ceremony out of fear of angering China.

China reacted furiously to the decision by the Nobel Committee to award this year's peace prize to Liu, who was jailed for 11 years last December on subversion charges after calling for reform of one-party communist rule.

It repeatedly warned governments around the world that ties would be harmed if they attended the ceremony.

"We do not want to further annoy China," said a senior diplomat at the Philippines' foreign affairs department who asked not to be named.

A presidential palace official also said Aquino "did not want another irritant" in his government's ties with China.

The Philippines has been working hard to repair diplomatic ties with China following the botched ending of a bus hijacking incident in Manila that left eight Hong Kong tourists dead in August.

The Philippines is also seeking to buy military hardware from China – the nation's armed forces chief, General Ricardo David, is in Beijing this week on a procurement mission.

China has become an increasingly important trade partner for the Philippines.

*****eral trade has been expanding at double-digit pace since the 1990s, with China now the Philippines' third-largest trading partner following the United States and Japan.

China's ambassador to Manila, Liu Jianchao, thanked the Philippines on Thursday for its decision to skip Friday's prize ceremony.

"We appreciate the understanding of the Philippine government. Every country has the right not to attend the event," Liu told reporters.

Human Rights Watch said it was "shocked and disappointed" at the Philippine decision, especially as the country had always been a leading supporter of Myanmar's democracy heroine Aung San Suu Kyi, herself a Nobel laureate.

"The Philippines prides itself on its democratic values, which is why it is shocking to see this government turning its back on Liu Xiaobo's non-violent struggle for free expression in China," said Elaine Pearson, the group's deputy Asia director.

"By declining the invitation to attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, the Philippines is failing to live up to its promises to promote human rights in Asia."

Lawyer Harry Roque, chairman of the Manila-based Center for International Law, also expressed outrage.

"We should not have allowed China into bullying us not to attend the ceremony. This is an abdication of our moral duty to the world as the source of people power, of liberal democracy," Roque told AFP.

"That was a regrettable decision, because in effect what we did was to support an affront on freedom of expression."

Vietnam and Afghanistan are other Asian nations to have declined to attend Friday's ceremony in Oslo.

Anger as Philippines says will skip Nobel ceremony - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

Paling paling man.

PH ‘relents’, to attend Nobel rites for jailed Chinese dissident—exec
OSLO – The Philippines will attend the Nobel ceremony that will honor Liu Xiaobo, according to Nobel Institute director Geir Lundestad.

The Philippines has “relented,” said Lundestad, days after it announced that it would not send a representative to the rites in a move that was meant to appease China, which protested the awarding of the peace prize to its detained dissident and warned countries against attending the event.

When asked about the statement by Lundestad, Foreign Affairs spokesman Ed Malaya said, “The story is unverified from our end.”

Aside from the Philippines, Serbia and Ukraine, under pressure both at home and abroad, reversed their decision to boycott and said they were sending representatives.

Lundestad said that 45 embassies had accepted invitations to the event, while 19, including China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran, had initially declined.

Exiled Chinese dissidents, ambassadors, Norwegian royals and other dignitaries will gather around an empty chair Friday to hail absent Liu in a ceremony that has enraged Beijing.

The empty chair for the jailed Chinese dissident "is a very strong symbol [that] shows how appropriate this prize was," explained Nobel Committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland at a press conference on the eve of the ceremony, which kicks off at 1:00 p.m. (1200 GMT) in the Oslo city hall.

Friday marks only the second time in the more than 100-year history of the prize that neither the laureate nor a representative will be able to come accept the award.

The only other time was when German journalist and pacifist Carl von Ossietzky, who was locked up in a Nazi concentration camp, could not travel to Oslo for his prize ceremony in 1936.

Like Ossietzky, who was a critic of the regime under which he lived, Liu has long been an outspoken opponent of Chinese leadership in Beijing.

The writer and former university professor was at the forefront of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.

He was jailed in December 2009 for 11 years on subversion charges after co-authoring "Charter 08", a manifesto that spread quickly on the Internet calling for political reform and greater rights in China.

"I have long been aware that when an independent intellectual stands up to an autocratic state, step one toward freedom is often a step into prison," Liu said shortly after his sentence was handed down on Christmas Day.

"Now I am taking that step, and true freedom is that much nearer," he added.

Beijing was enraged by the Norwegian Nobel Committee's pick this year, which was announced in October.

The Chinese authorities labelled the laureate a "criminal" and placed his wife Liu Xia under house arrest.

And the Chinese authorities' fury has mounted in the run-up to Friday's ceremony, threatening "consequences" for countries that come out in support of Liu and lambasting the Nobel Committee as "clowns."

"The Chinese people and the overwhelming majority of countries and people in the world oppose what they do," foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said in Beijing a day before the event.

At home, Chinese media have largely shied away from covering this year's Nobel Peace Prize, while Beijing has cracked down on dissidents and worked hard to block its critics from travelling to Oslo.

A number of Chinese dissidents living in exile have nonetheless made the trip.

In addition to placing an empty chair on the podium to represent Liu, he will be remembered with a photograph and one of his texts read by Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann.

He will receive his gold medal, Nobel diploma and prize money of 10 million Swedish kronor (1.1 million euros, 1.5 million dollars) at a later date.

The laureates of the Nobel prizes for chemistry, physics, literature and economics will collect their awards at a separate ceremony in Stockholm later Friday.

PH ‘relents’, to attend Nobel rites for jailed Chinese dissident—exec - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

[wikki]

political show raman na sa western powers. fact is no one really knows who Liu really is or whos backing him, and this aint the first time the west used influencial figures to get everyones attention, anyone still remember the Dalai Lama? well that didnt work not its Liu time.

[FAQ]

Philippines decided not to attend the shin-dig so they could please China to be a friend once again . I can't believe how the current administration are concerned about their relationship with China and ignore DEMOCRACY .

Our country strongly encouraging younger generations about FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION and all that bs . Our forefathers fought for FREEDOM against colonizers , but now our current government chose not to support Liu Xiaobo - who's fighting for the same thing like our forefathers did .

So Philippines be prepare , if our current government ignored Liu Xiaobo's award for fighting against the oppressive government , I'm pretty sure our government will ignore its citizen's democracy, and civil rights too . Oh , I find it so ironic that our current government led by Noynoy ignoring Liu Xiaobo , when his parents also fought for the same thing not too long ago . Hmmmm ...

[samsungster]

sayang wala siya ka attend...

[dark_phoenix]

Confusion arises over RP gov’t stand on Nobel rites invitation

Malacañang and the Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday issued confusing statements on whether the Philippines will send a representative to Friday night’s Nobel Peace Prize awarding ceremonies for a jailed Chinese human rights advocate in Oslo, Norway.

Palace officials denied the government has changed its mind and would attend the event after previously declining the Nobel Committee’s invitation allegedly due to Chinese government pressure.

According to Nobel Institute director Geir Lundestad, Ukraine and the Philippines, two of the 19 states that had earlier decided to skip the ceremony, wouldattend the rites for Liu Xiaobo, who won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.

But for Foreign Affairs spokesman Eduardo Malaya, the reports are “unconfirmed.”

“We are verifying this,” Malaya told the Tribune in a text message.

Minutes later, Malaya sent another text message, saying: “The Philippines will not be able to attend the Nobel Prize awards ceremony at this time as the Philippine Ambassador in Oslo will be out of the country.”

Ambassador Elizabeth Buensuceso, he said, will be in Denmark, which is also part of her jurisdiction, to meet some 10,000 Filipino community members “as she is winding down her tour of duty and returning to Manila shortly.”

Malaya added it is not proper to send another representative because the invitation was addressed to the Philippine Ambassador.

He also could not say if the Philippines regularly attends Nobel Peace ceremonies in the past.

The Aquino administration received stinging rebukes from international and local human rights groups for not sending a representative to the event. But China praised the Philippine decision, saying it “appreciates” the government’s understanding of Beijng’s position.

President Aquino, whose mother, late President Corazon Aquino, was a Nobel Peace Prize nominee in 1986 for leading a non-violent people power revolt that toppled the Marcos dictatorship on the same year, projects himself as a human rights defender and a champion of democracy.

The government also brought into play its non-subscription to capital punishment in a desperate attempt to clear the Philippines off charges that it is not being consistent with its promise to support human rights after allegedly giving in to China’s pressure to boycott this year’s Nobel Peace Prize award.

Malaya, in his statement for the international human rights day celebration, belied criticisms that the Philippines is failing to live up to its promise to defend human rights in the Asian region by deciding to skip the Nobel rites for Liu.

“The Philippines plays an active role in the campaign for the abolition of capital punishment worldwide, or a moratorium on its implementation at the least. This is an important advocacy, as capital punishment remains part of the penal laws in many countries in the Americas, Africa and Asia,” Malaya said.

He claimed that the Philippines has also been an early strong advocate of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights which offices the country had offered to host.

In addition, Malaya said, the country has been a leading voice for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, and now that this icon of freedom has been released, we have urged the Myanmar Government to release the 2,100 other prisoners of conscience in that country.

“We would like to reiterate that the Philippines is remain a full supporter for the respect, for human rights and not only that for the dignity of ugly human person,” Malaya was quoted saying.

“I think the word boycott is very strong. The Philippines is not doing a concerted act like taking a placard, and doing a picket and telling people not to do something,” he stressed, denying further any connection on the non-attendance of the Philippines in the Nobel rites to China’s alleged power play.

Malaya said he has no knowledge whatsoever on the so-called pressure being exerted by China among the developing countries that are allied with it, including the Philippines which has been struggling to repair its good relations with Asia’s economic force since the August 23 hostage crisis took place. Michaela P. del Callar and Aytch S. de la Cruz

The Daily Tribune - Without Fear or Favor

China anger at 'farce' of Liu Xiaobo Nobel Peace Prize
BBC News - China anger at 'farce' of Liu Xiaobo Nobel Peace Prize

China has said the awarding of this year's Nobel Peace Prize to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo is a "political farce".

China's foreign ministry said the move by the prize committee in Oslo "does not represent the wish of the majority of the people in the world".

There were standing ovations at the ceremony in Norway for Mr Liu, who was represented only by an empty chair.

The committee's chairman called for the immediate release of the dissident.

Thorbjorn Jagland praised China for lifting millions of people out of poverty, calling it an "extraordinary achievement".

But he warned China that its new status as a leading world power meant Beijing "must regard criticism as positive".

In response, the foreign ministry in Beijing said in a statement: "We resolutely oppose any country or any person using the Nobel Peace Prize to interfere with China's internal affairs or infringe upon China's legal sovereignty."

China says that Mr Liu is a criminal, and insists that giving him a prize is an insult to China's judicial system.

Beijing has also waged a campaign in recent weeks to discredit the Nobel prize.

'China's Mandela'

During the award ceremony in Oslo, Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann read out a statement that Mr Liu had made in court during his trial in December 2009.

Why China considers Liu Xiaobo a threat

1989: leading activist in Tiananmen Square protests for democratisation; jailed for two years
1996: spoke out against China's one-party system; sent to labour camp for three years
2008: co-author of Charter 08, calling for a new constitution, an independent judiciary and freedom of expression
2009: jailed for subversion for 11 years; verdict says he "had the goal of subverting our country's people's democratic dictatorship and socialist system. The effects were malign and he is a major criminal".

Excerpts: Liu Xiaobo's final statement
Charter 08: A call for change

Liu Xiaobo: the right choice?
"I, filled with optimism, look forward to the advent of a future, free China," said the statement.

"For there is no force that can put an end to the human quest for freedom, and China will in the end become a nation ruled by law, where human rights reign supreme."

Honouring the new laureate, Mr Jagland placed the Nobel diploma on the empty chair marking Mr Liu's absence.

He compared China's anger at the award to the outcry over peace prizes awarded to other dissidents of their times, including South African archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

He said Mr Liu was dedicating his prize to "the lost souls from 4 June", those who died in the pro-democracy protests on that date in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

"We can say (Mr) Liu reminds us of Nelson Mandela," he said. The former South African president received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.

The UN says it had information that China detained at least 20 activists ahead of the ceremony.

For the first time in more than 70 years the peace prize ceremony has been essentially symbolic, with the recipient in jail and none of the close family members who would be entitled to receive the prize on his behalf allowed to leave China.

The most symbolic moment of all was when the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel committee, Thorbjorn Jagland, placed Liu Xiaobo's medal on a chair on the podium that had been deliberately left empty.

It has been one of the most controversial peace prizes for years. To China, the award has diminished this prestigious prize. But to the Nobel committee, China's diplomatic offensive over the award only justifies the choice of Liu Xiaobo as a deserving winner.

A further 120 cases of house arrest, travel restriction, forced relocation and other acts of intimidation have been reported.

The BBC's English and Chinese language websites have been blocked, and BBC TV coverage was blacked out inside China during the ceremony.

Mr Liu, one of China's leading dissidents, is serving an 11-year sentence in a jail in north-east China for state subversion.

Police are stationed outside his home in Beijing where his wife, Liu Xia, is under house arrest.

Chinese pressure

Geir Lundestad, the director of the Nobel committee, said 48 foreign delegations attended the Oslo ceremony, 16 countries - including Russia, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan - turned down the invitation and the Chinese returned their invitation unopened.

Analysts say many of those who stayed away did so as a result of Chinese pressure.

However, Serbia - which had previously said it would not attend - announced on Friday that it would be sending a representative.

Beijing had sought to prevent anyone travelling from China to Oslo to collect the prize on Mr Liu's behalf.


Countries that boycotted the ceremony

China, Vietnam, Kazakhstan
Russia
Venezuela, Cuba
Tunisia, Morocco, Sudan, Algeria
Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Egypt
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka

Media reaction to Nobel row

The BBC's Mike Wooldridge in Oslo says that to the Nobel committee, Liu Xiaobo symbolises a message it was keen to send to China - that its growing economic strength and power do not exempt it from universal standards of human rights.

On the other hand, China said the committee had chosen a criminal convicted under Chinese law to serve the interests of certain Western countries, our correspondent says.

Charter 08

Liu Xiaobo first came to prominence when he took part in the Tiananmen protests.

He was sent to prison for nearly two years for his role, and has been a critic of the Chinese government ever since.

He was given the 11-year prison sentence in December 2009 for inciting the subversion of state power, a charge which came after he co-authored a document known as Charter 08.

The document calls openly for political reforms in China, such as a separation of powers and legislative democracy.

This year marks the first time since 1936 that the Nobel Peace Prize, now worth $1.5m (£950,000), was not handed out.

The BBC's Damian Grammaticas reports from the prison holding Liu Xiaobo
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay on Thursday again called for Mr Liu to be released "as soon as possible".

Last year's peace prize winner, US President Barack Obama, has also called for his release.

As well as putting Liu Xia, the Nobel laureate's wife, under house arrest, the authorities have put pressure on other activists and dissidents.

Some have been prevented from leaving the country, while others have been forced to leave their homes for the next few days, according to the Chinese Human Rights Defenders.

One of those to disappear, it said, was Zhang Zuhua, the man who co-wrote Charter 08.

[mimigs]

‘PH skipped Nobel for the sake of Pinoys on China death row’

abs-cbnNEWS.com
Posted at 12/12/2010 11:39 AM | Updated as of 12/12/2010 11:39 AM


MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III admitted the country did not send a delegate to the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony honoring a Chinese democracy activist for the sake of 5 Filipinos on China’s death row.

In an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Aquino said “our interest [is] to advance our citizens’ needs first.”

Human rights activists lambasted the Aquino administration for boycotting the awards ceremony for Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. They said such action is very disappointing considering the country’s history in fighting for democracy.

The Philippines is not alone, however. Sixteen others boycotted the ceremony supposedly due to pressures from China.

Aquino stressed the government remains “committed to human rights.”

He said it just does not want to put at risk the efforts done so far for the 5 Filipinos who had been sentenced to death for acting as drug mules. The Filipinos – 1 male and 4 females – are detained in Beijing.

The President noted he had already sent a letter to China asking for clemency for the 5 Filipinos.

Aquino also said the country is aiming for a “closure” with China over the August 23 hostage incident, where 8 Hong Kong residents died.

The hostage crisis has caused diplomatic strains between the 2 nations. The Hong Kong government has voiced out its dismay over the “watered down” penalties that those involved have received.

He also said he was concerned for the safety of the Filipinos who may be caught in the tension between North and South Korea.

China earlier offered to mediate between the 2 Korean peninsulas. China is an ally of North Korea.
?PH skipped Nobel for the sake of Pinoys on China death row? | ABS-CBN News | Latest Philippine Headlines, Breaking News, Video, Analysis, Features

[RMK711]

Philippines decided not to attend the shin-dig so they could please China to be a friend once again . I can't believe how the current administration are concerned about their relationship with China and ignore DEMOCRACY .

Our country strongly encouraging younger generations about FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION and all that bs . Our forefathers fought for FREEDOM against colonizers , but now our current government chose not to support Liu Xiaobo - who's fighting for the same thing like our forefathers did .

So Philippines be prepare , if our current government ignored Liu Xiaobo's award for fighting against the oppressive government , I'm pretty sure our government will ignore its citizen's democracy, and civil rights too . Oh , I find it so ironic that our current government led by Noynoy ignoring Liu Xiaobo , when his parents also fought for the same thing not too long ago . Hmmmm ...

Who cares about freedom if people aren't eating three times a day? How is it a democratic country like the Philippines has a GDP per capita that is equal with North Korea, and has similar malnutrition levels? The west just doesn't understand that other people may have different points of view. Democracy is a western tradition so it's natural that the west would be obsessed with it. That doesn't mean it needs to be implemented everywhere. Democracy has been a complete failure here, and don't pretend it started with Marcos, we've had trouble with warlords and corrupt politicians from the time of President Aguinaldo onwards.

And what kind of freedom does the Philippines have anyways it's laughable. A lot of people are desperate to leave the country, the media is controlled by the Lopezes and the people braindead from watching too much wowoweee. So we have elections every now and then but then nothing ever changes and people only vote because they want to be given money. That's what democracy is, Philippine style. The Greeks who invented it, would turn in their graves.

[wikki]

Liu Xiaobo wrong man for Nobel Peace Prize, say laureates | The Australian

heres a link to another news.

seriously, western people... so a single Chinese scientist like to work in the west more indicates that China is a bad place to be?, or a single individual got screwed (probably did something stupid) China becomes a tyrant. come on.. that Russian scientist that supports Liu cant be trusted to begin with, I mean his Russian and flipped to Britain for money period.

who cares what the west says, when China becomes a success story in the near future the the west bankrupt every nation that went againts them now will be sorry.

China isnt run by a dictator if thats what your thinking, get your facts straight. sure they government SYSTEM is communist, its a must for them so that 1.3 BILLION + of thier people will be able to feed themselves and actually work and progress. And dont even think about writing another democracy bullshit here, take a look at your country first and tell me if Democracy is really working, and I mean your COUNTRY not YOU and your current financial standing nor your luxuries ( hell i doubt anyone here honestly pays in full thier taxes <--- this alone is a failure in democracy).