Liu Xiaobo
Encyclopedia
Liu Xiaobo is a Chinese literary critic, writer, professor, and human rights
activist who called for political reforms and the end of communist
single-party rule in China
. He is currently incarcerated as a political prisoner
in China.
Liu has served from 2003 to 2007 as President of the Independent Chinese PEN
Center, an organization funded by the National Endowment for Democracy
, which in turn is almost entirely funded by the US Congress
. He was also the President of NED-funded MinZhuZhongGuo (Democratic China) magazine since the mid-1990s. On 8 December 2008, Liu was detained because of his participation with the Charter 08
manifesto. He was formally arrested on 23 June 2009 on suspicion of "inciting subversion of state power
." He was tried on the same charges on 23 December 2009, and sentenced to eleven years' imprisonment and two years' deprivation of political rights on 25 December 2009.
During his fourth prison term, he was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize
for "his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China." He is the first Chinese citizen
to be awarded a Nobel Prize of any kind while residing in China. Liu is the third person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while in prison or detention, after Germany's Carl von Ossietzky (1935) and Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi (1991). Liu is also the first person since Ossietzky to be denied the right to have a representative collect the Nobel prize for him.
, Jilin
, in 1955 to an intellectual family. In 1969, during the Down to the Countryside Movement
, Liu's father took him to Horqin Right Front Banner
, Inner Mongolia
. After he finished middle school in 1974, he was sent to the countryside to work on a farm in Jilin.
In 1977, Liu was admitted to the Department of Chinese Literature at Jilin University
, where he created a poetry group known as "The Innocent Hearts" (Chi Zi Xin) with six schoolmates. In 1982, he graduated with B.A.
in literature before being admitted as a research student at the Department of Chinese Literature at Beijing Normal University
. In 1984, he received an M.A.
in literature and became a teacher at the same department. That year, he married Tao Li, with whom he a son named Liu Tao in 1985.
In 1986, Liu started his doctoral study program and published his literary critiques at various magazines. He became well known as a "dark horse" for his radical opinions and sharp comments on the official doctrines and establishments to shock both of the literary and ideological circles, thus termed as "Liu Xiaobo Shock" or "Liu Xiaobo Phenomenon". In 1987, his first book, Criticism of the Choice: Dialogues with Li Zehou, was published and became a bestseller non-fiction. It comprehensively criticised the Chinese tradition of Confucianism
and posed a frank challenge to Li Zehou
, a rising ideological star who had a strong influence on young intellectuals in China at the time.
In June 1988, he received Ph.D. in literature. His doctoral thesis, Aesthetic and Human Freedom, passed the examination unanimously and was published as his second book. In the same year he became a lecturer at the same department. He soon became a visiting scholar at several universities, including the University of Oslo
, the University of Hawaii
, and Columbia University
. He returned home as the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests broke out. This year saw also the publication of his third book, The Fog of Metaphysics, a comprehensive review on Western philosophies. Soon, all of his works were banned.
Liu admitted in 2006 that the response was extemporaneous, although he did not intend to take it back, as it represented "an extreme expression of his longheld belief." The quote was nonetheless used against him. He has commented, "Even today [in 2006], radical patriotic 'angry youth
' still frequently use these words to paint me with 'treason
'."
Known for his pro-West stance, Liu once stated in an interview: "Modernization means whole-sale westernization, choosing a human life is choosing Western way of life. Difference between Western and Chinese governing system is humane vs in-humane, there's no middle ground... Westernization is not a choice of a nation, but a choice for the human race"
During the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, he was in the United States but decided to return to China to join the movement. He was later named as one of the "four junzi
s of Tiananmen Square" for persuading students to leave the square and thus saving hundreds of lives.
In his 1996 article titled "Lessons from the Cold War", Liu argues that "The free world led by the US fought almost all regimes that trampled on human rights … The major wars that the US became involved in are all ethically defensible." He has defended U.S. policies in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
, which he thinks is the fault of the "provocateur" Palestinians.
Liu also published a 2004 article in support of Bush's war on Iraq, titled "Victory to the Anglo-American Freedom Alliance", in which he praised the U.S.-led post-Cold War
conflicts as "best examples of how war should be conducted in a modern civilization." He predicted "a free, democratic and peaceful Iraq will emerge." During the 2004 US presidential election, Liu again praised Bush for his war effort against Iraq and condemned Democratic Party candidate John Kerry
for not sufficiently supporting the wars in which the U.S. was then involved. He commented on Islamism
that, "a culture and (religious) system that produced this kind of threat (Islamic fundamentalism
), must be extremely intolerant and blood-thirsty." On Israel
, he said "without America’s protection, the long persecuted Jews who faced extermination during World War II
, probably would again be drowned by the Islamic world's hatred."
on 2 June. Later referred to as the "Tiananmen Four Gentlemen Hunger Strike", the action was to earn the trust from the students. He requested that the government and the students abandon the ideology of class struggle and to adopt a new kind of political culture for dialogue and compromise. Although it was too late to prevent the massacre from occurring beyond the Square starting from the night of 3 June, he and his colleagues successfully negotiated with the student leaders and the army commander to let all the several thousand students withdraw peacefully from the Square, thus avoiding a possible bloodshed in a much larger scale.
On 6 June, Liu was arrested and detained in Qincheng Prison
for his alleged role in the movement, and three months later was expelled from the Beijing Normal University. The government's media issued numerous publications which labelled him a "mad dog" and "black hand" because he had allegedly incited and manipulated the student movement to overthrow the government and socialists. His publications were banned, including his fourth book in press, Going Naked Toward God. In Taiwan however, his first and third books were republished with some additions as Criticism of the Choice: Dialogues with Leading Thinker LI Zehou (1989), and the two-volume Mysteries of Thought and Dreams of Mankind (1990).
In January 1991, 19 months since his arrest, Liu Xiaobo was convicted on the offence of "counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement" but exempted from criminal punishment for his "major meritorious action" for having avoided the possibly bloody confrontation at Tiananmen Square. After his release, he was divorced and eventually his ex-wife and son immigrated to the US. He resumed his writing, mostly on human rights and political issues though he has not been allowed to publish in Mainland China. In 1992, he published in Taiwan his first book after his imprisonment, The Monologues of a Doomsday’s Survivor, a controversial memoir with his confessions and political criticism on the popular movement in 1989.
In January 1993, Liu was invited to visit Australia and the US for the interviews in the documentary film Gate of Heavenly Peace. Although many of his friends suggested that he take refuge abroad, Liu returned China in May 1993 and continued his freelance writing.
On 18 May 1995, the police took Liu into custody for launching a petition campaign on the eve of the sixth anniversary of June 4 massacre, calling on the government to reassess the event and to initiate political reform. He was held under residential surveillance in the suburbs of Beijing for 9 months. He was released in February 1996 but arrested again on 8 October for an October Tenth Declaration, co-authored by him and another prominent dissident Wang Xizhe, mainly on Taiwan issue that advocated the peaceful unification to oppose Chinese Communist Party's forceful treats toward the island. He was ordered to serve three years of re-education through labor on "disturbing public order” for that statement. In the same year, he married Liu Xia.
After his release on 7 October 1999, Liu Xiaobo resumed his freelance writing. However, it is reported that the government built a sentry station next to his home and his phone calls and internet connections were tapped.
In 2000, he published in Taiwan A Nation That Lies to Conscience, a 400-paged political criticism. Also published, in Hong Kong, was Selection of Poems, a 450-paged collection of the poems as correspondences between him and his wife during his imprisonment; it was co-authored by Liu and his wife. The last of three books which he published during the year was in Mainland China, titled The Beauty Offers Me Drug: Literary Dialogues between Wang Shuo and Lao Xia, a 250-paged collection of literary critiques co-authored by a popular young writer and by himself under his unknown penname of "Lao Xiao". In the same year, Liu participated in founding the Independent Chinese PEN Centre and was elected to its board of directors as well as its president in November 2003, re-elected two years later. In 2007, he did not seek for the re-election of the president but hold his position of the board member until detained by the police in December 2008.
In 2004, when he started to write a Human Rights Report of China at home, his computer, letters and documents were confiscated by the government. He once said, "at Liu Xia's [Liu's wife] birthday, her best friend brought two bottles of wine to [my home] but was blocked by the police from coming in. I ordered a [birthday] cake and the police also rejected the man who delivered the cake to us. I quarreled with them and the police said, "it is for the sake of your security. It has happened many bomb attacks in these days." Those measures were loosened until 2007, prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
In January 2005, following the death of former Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang
, who showed sympathy to protesters of the student demonstration in 1989, Liu was immediately put under house arrest for two weeks before realizing the death of Zhao. In the same year, he published two more books in the US, Future of Free China Exists in Civil Society, and Single-Blade Poisonous Sword: Criticism of Chinese Nationalism.
His writing is considered subversive by the Chinese Communist Party, and his name is censored. He has called for multi-party elections, free markets, advocated values of freedom, supported separation of powers and urged the governments to be accountable for its wrongdoings
. When not in prison, he has been the subject of government monitoring and put under house arrest during sensitive times.
Liu's human rights work has received international recognition. In 2004, Reporters Without Borders
awarded him the Fondation de France Prize as a defender of press freedom.
Liu Xiaobo actively participated in the writing of and, along with more than three hundred Chinese citizens, signed Charter 08. The Charter is a manifesto
released on 10 December 2008 to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
. It was written in the style of the Czechoslovak Charter 77
, calling for more freedom of expression, human rights, more democratic elections, for privatizing state enterprises and land and for economic liberalism
. As of September 2010, the Charter has collected over 10,000 signatures.
, he was forbidden to meet with his lawyer or family, though he was allowed to eat lunch with his wife, Liu Xia, and two policemen on New Year's Day 2009. On 23 June 2009, the Beijing procuratorate approved Liu's arrest on charges of "suspicion of inciting subversion of state power," a crime under Article 105 of China's Criminal Law
. In a Xinhua
news release announcing Liu's arrest, the Beijing Public Security Bureau
alleged that Liu had incited the subversion of state power and the overturn of the socialist system through methods such as spreading rumors and slander, citing almost verbatim Article 105; the Beijing PSB also noted that Liu had "fully confessed."
" under and sent his lawyers, Shang Baojun and Ding Xikui, the indictment document. He was tried at Beijing No. 1 Intermediate Court on 23 December 2009. His wife was not permitted to observe the hearing, although his brother-in-law was present. Diplomats from more than a dozen states – including the U.S., Britain, Canada, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand – were denied access to the court to watch the trial and stood outside the court for its duration. Amongst these included Gregory May, political officer at the U.S. Embassy, and Nicholas Weeks, first secretary of the Swedish Embassy.
This statement, titled "I have no enemies
", was later read in the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize
ceremony, which Liu was unable to attend due to imprisonment. On 25 December 2009, Liu was sentenced to eleven years' imprisonment and two years' deprivation of political rights by the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate Court on charges of "inciting subversion of state power." According to Liu's family and counsel, he plans to appeal the judgment. In the verdict, Charter 08 was named as part of the evidence supporting his conviction. John Pomfret
of The Washington Post said Christmas Day was chosen to dump the news because the Chinese government believed Westerners were less likely to take notice on a holiday.
In an article published in the South China Morning Post, Liu argued that his verdict violated China's constitution, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations. He argued that charges against him of 'spreading rumours, slandering and in other ways inciting the subversion of the government and overturning the socialist system' were contrived, as he did not fabricate or create false information, nor did he besmirch the good name and character of others by merely expressing a point of view, a value judgment.
, Ha Jin
and Jung Chang
, called for Liu's release in a statement put out through PEN
. In March 2009, the One World Film Festival
awarded Liu Xiaobo the Homo Homini Award, organized by the People in Need foundation
, for promoting freedom of speech, democratic principles and human rights.
In December 2009, the European Union and United States issued formal appeals calling for the unconditional release of Liu Xiaobo. China, responding to the international calls prior to the verdict, stated that other nations should "respect China's judicial sovereignty and to not do things that will interfere in China's internal affairs."
Responding to the verdict, United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Navanethem Pillay expressed concern at the deterioration of political rights in China. German Chancellor Angela Merkel
strongly criticized the verdict, stating "despite the great progress in other areas in the expression of views, I regret that the Chinese government still massively restricts press freedom." Canada and Switzerland also condemned the verdict. The Republic of China
President Ma Ying-jeou
called on Beijing to "tolerate dissent". On 6 January 2010, former Czech president Václav Havel joined with other communist-era dissidents at the Chinese Embassy in Prague to present a petition calling for Liu's release. On 22 January 2010, European Association for Chinese Studies sent an open letter to Hu Jintao
on behalf of over 800 scholars from 36 countries calling for Liu's release.
On 18 January 2010, Liu was nominated for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize
by Václav Havel
, the 14th Dalai Lama
, André Glucksmann
, Vartan Gregorian
, Mike Moore, Karel Schwarzenberg
, Desmond Tutu
and Grigory Yavlinsky. China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ma Zhaoxu stated that awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu would be "totally wrong". Geir Lundestad, a secretary of the Nobel Committee, stated the award would not be influenced by Beijing's opposition. On 25 September 2010, The New York Times
reported that a petition in support of the Nobel nomination was being circulated in China.
On 14 September 2010, the Mayor of Reykjavík, Jón Gnarr
, met on an unrelated matter with CPC Politburo member Liu Qi and demanded China set the dissident Liu Xiaobo free. Also that September Václav Havel, Dana Němcová and Václav Malý, leaders of Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution
, published an open letter in the International Herald Tribune
calling for the award to be given to Liu, while a petition began to circulate soon afterwards.
On 6 October 2010, the non-governmental organization Freedom Now
, which serves as an international counsel to Liu Xiaobo as retained by his family, publicly released a letter from 30 members of the U.S. Congress to President Barack Obama
, urging him to directly raise both Liu's case and that of fellow imprisoned dissident Gao Zhisheng
to Chinese President Hu Jintao at the G-20 Summit in November 2010. The Republic of China President Ma Ying-jiu congratulated Liu on winning the Nobel Prize and requested Chinese authorities to improve their impression to the world about human rights, but not calling for his release from prison.
In 2011, the WorldWideReading is dedicated to Liu Xiaobo; on March 20, there were readings in more than 60 towns and cities on all continents and broadcast via radio stations. The appeal "Freedom for Liu Xiaobo" has so far been supported by more than 700 writers from around the world, amongst them the Nobel Prize laureates John M. Coetzee, Nadine Gordimer, Herta Müller and Elfriede Jelinek, as well as Breyten Breytenbach, Eliot Weinberger, Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth, Mario Vargas Llosa, Wolf Biermann and Dave Eggers.
China reacted negatively to the award, immediately censoring
news about the announcement of the award in China, though later that day became available. Foreign news broadcasters including CNN
and the BBC
were immediately blocked, while heavy censorship
was applied to personal communications. The Chinese Foreign Ministry denounced the award to Liu Xiaobo, saying that it "runs completely counter to the principle of the award and is also a desecration of the Peace Prize." The Norwegian ambassador to the People's Republic of China was summoned by the Foreign Ministry on 8 October 2010 and was presented with an official complaint about the granting of the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu. The Chinese government has called Liu Xiaobo a criminal and stated that he does not deserve the prize. Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng
criticized Liu by calling him "the accomplice of the Communist regime."
Following the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize, celebrations in China were either stopped or curtailed, and prominent intellectuals and other dissidents were detained, harassed or put under surveillance; Liu's wife, Liu Xia
, was placed under house arrest, and was forbidden to talk to reporters even though no official charges were brought. Sixty-five countries with missions in Norway were all invited to the Nobel Prize ceremony, but fifteen declined, in some cases due to heavy lobbying by China. Besides China, these countries were Russia, Kazakhstan, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Vietnam, Venezuela, Egypt, Sudan, Cuba and Morocco.
China also imposed travel restrictions on known dissidents ahead of the ceremony. A Chinese group announced that its answer to the Nobel Peace Prize, the Confucius Peace Prize
, would be awarded to former Taiwan Vice-President Lien Chan
for the bridge of peace he has been building between Taiwan and Mainland China. Lien Chan himself denied any knowledge of the $15,000 prize.
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
activist who called for political reforms and the end of communist
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
single-party rule in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. He is currently incarcerated as a political prisoner
Political prisoner
According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’....
in China.
Liu has served from 2003 to 2007 as President of the Independent Chinese PEN
International PEN
PEN International , the worldwide association of writers, was founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere....
Center, an organization funded by the National Endowment for Democracy
National Endowment for Democracy
The National Endowment for Democracy, or NED, is a U.S. non-profit organization that was founded in 1983 to promote US-friendly democracy by providing cash grants funded primarily through an annual allocation from the U.S. Congress...
, which in turn is almost entirely funded by the US Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
. He was also the President of NED-funded MinZhuZhongGuo (Democratic China) magazine since the mid-1990s. On 8 December 2008, Liu was detained because of his participation with the Charter 08
Charter 08
Charter 08 is a manifesto initially signed by over 350 Chinese intellectuals and human rights activists. It was published on 10 December 2008, the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopting name and style from the anti-Soviet Charter 77 issued by dissidents in...
manifesto. He was formally arrested on 23 June 2009 on suspicion of "inciting subversion of state power
Inciting subversion of state power
Inciting subversion of state power is a crime under the law of the People's Republic of China. It is article 105, paragraph 2 of the 1997 revision of the People's Republic of China's Penal Code....
." He was tried on the same charges on 23 December 2009, and sentenced to eleven years' imprisonment and two years' deprivation of political rights on 25 December 2009.
During his fourth prison term, he was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize
2010 Nobel Peace Prize
The 2010 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to imprisoned Chinese human rights activist "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China"...
for "his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China." He is the first Chinese citizen
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
to be awarded a Nobel Prize of any kind while residing in China. Liu is the third person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while in prison or detention, after Germany's Carl von Ossietzky (1935) and Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi (1991). Liu is also the first person since Ossietzky to be denied the right to have a representative collect the Nobel prize for him.
Early life and works
Liu was born in ChangchunChangchun
Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin province, located in the northeast of the People's Republic of China, in the center of the Songliao Plain. It is administered as a sub-provincial city with a population of 7,677,089 at the 2010 census under its jurisdiction, including counties and...
, Jilin
Jilin
Jilin , is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west...
, in 1955 to an intellectual family. In 1969, during the Down to the Countryside Movement
Down to the Countryside Movement
The Down to the Countryside Movement was a policy instituted in the People's Republic of China in the late 1960s and early 1970s. As a result of the anti-bourgeois thinking prevalent during the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong declared certain privileged urban youth would be sent to mountainous...
, Liu's father took him to Horqin Right Front Banner
Horqin Right Front Banner
Horqin Right Front Banner is a county of Inner Mongolia, China. It is under the administration of Hinggan League. The local Mongolian dialect is Khorchin.-References:*...
, Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the northern region of the country. Inner Mongolia shares an international border with the countries of Mongolia and the Russian Federation...
. After he finished middle school in 1974, he was sent to the countryside to work on a farm in Jilin.
In 1977, Liu was admitted to the Department of Chinese Literature at Jilin University
Jilin University
Jilin University is a leading national university under the direct jurisdiction of China's Ministry of Education.-History:Founded in 1946 as the Northeast College of Administration in Harbin, Heilongjiang, Jilin University merged with many Universities and colleges and changed its name many times...
, where he created a poetry group known as "The Innocent Hearts" (Chi Zi Xin) with six schoolmates. In 1982, he graduated with B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in literature before being admitted as a research student at the Department of Chinese Literature at Beijing Normal University
Beijing Normal University
Beijing Normal University , colloqiually known as 北师大 or Beishida, is a public research university located in Beijing with strong emphasis on basic disciplines of humanities and sciences...
. In 1984, he received an M.A.
Master of Arts
A Master of Arts is a high academic degree offered at many universities in Europe and the United States.A Master of Arts, Magister Artium, or Magister in Artibus may also refer to:...
in literature and became a teacher at the same department. That year, he married Tao Li, with whom he a son named Liu Tao in 1985.
In 1986, Liu started his doctoral study program and published his literary critiques at various magazines. He became well known as a "dark horse" for his radical opinions and sharp comments on the official doctrines and establishments to shock both of the literary and ideological circles, thus termed as "Liu Xiaobo Shock" or "Liu Xiaobo Phenomenon". In 1987, his first book, Criticism of the Choice: Dialogues with Li Zehou, was published and became a bestseller non-fiction. It comprehensively criticised the Chinese tradition of Confucianism
Confucianism
Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...
and posed a frank challenge to Li Zehou
Li Zehou
Li Zehou is a Chinese scholar of philosophy and intellectual history, currently residing in the United States. He is considered one of the important modern scholars of Chinese history and culture. As a result of his criticism of the Chinese government's response to the Tiananmen Square protests of...
, a rising ideological star who had a strong influence on young intellectuals in China at the time.
In June 1988, he received Ph.D. in literature. His doctoral thesis, Aesthetic and Human Freedom, passed the examination unanimously and was published as his second book. In the same year he became a lecturer at the same department. He soon became a visiting scholar at several universities, including the University of Oslo
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...
, the University of Hawaii
University of Hawaii
The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...
, and Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. He returned home as the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests broke out. This year saw also the publication of his third book, The Fog of Metaphysics, a comprehensive review on Western philosophies. Soon, all of his works were banned.
Political views
In a 1988 interview with Hong Kong's Liberation Monthly (now known as Open Magazine), Liu was asked what it would take for China to realize a true historical transformation. He replied:[It would take] 300 years of colonialismColonialismColonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
. In 100 years of colonialism, Hong Kong has changed to what we see today. With China being so big, of course it would require 300 years as a colony for it to be able to transform into how Hong Kong is today. I have my doubts as to whether 300 years would be enough."
Liu admitted in 2006 that the response was extemporaneous, although he did not intend to take it back, as it represented "an extreme expression of his longheld belief." The quote was nonetheless used against him. He has commented, "Even today [in 2006], radical patriotic 'angry youth
Fenqing
Fenqing , or "FQ" , which is itself an abbreviation for Fennu Qingnian , means literally "angry youth". It mainly refers to leftist Chinese youth who display a high level of Chinese nationalism. This term first appeared in Hong Kong in the 1970s, referring to those young people who were not...
' still frequently use these words to paint me with 'treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
'."
Known for his pro-West stance, Liu once stated in an interview: "Modernization means whole-sale westernization, choosing a human life is choosing Western way of life. Difference between Western and Chinese governing system is humane vs in-humane, there's no middle ground... Westernization is not a choice of a nation, but a choice for the human race"
During the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, he was in the United States but decided to return to China to join the movement. He was later named as one of the "four junzi
Junzi
Junzi or nobleman, was a term used by Confucius , to describe his ideal human. To Confucius, the functions of government and social stratification were facts of life to be sustained by ethical values; thus his ideal human was the junzi...
s of Tiananmen Square" for persuading students to leave the square and thus saving hundreds of lives.
In his 1996 article titled "Lessons from the Cold War", Liu argues that "The free world led by the US fought almost all regimes that trampled on human rights … The major wars that the US became involved in are all ethically defensible." He has defended U.S. policies in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or...
, which he thinks is the fault of the "provocateur" Palestinians.
Liu also published a 2004 article in support of Bush's war on Iraq, titled "Victory to the Anglo-American Freedom Alliance", in which he praised the U.S.-led post-Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
conflicts as "best examples of how war should be conducted in a modern civilization." He predicted "a free, democratic and peaceful Iraq will emerge." During the 2004 US presidential election, Liu again praised Bush for his war effort against Iraq and condemned Democratic Party candidate John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
for not sufficiently supporting the wars in which the U.S. was then involved. He commented on Islamism
Islamism
Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
that, "a culture and (religious) system that produced this kind of threat (Islamic fundamentalism
Islamic fundamentalism
Islamic fundamentalism is a term used to describe religious ideologies seen as advocating a return to the "fundamentals" of Islam: the Quran and the Sunnah. Definitions of the term vary. According to Christine L...
), must be extremely intolerant and blood-thirsty." On Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, he said "without America’s protection, the long persecuted Jews who faced extermination during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, probably would again be drowned by the Islamic world's hatred."
Human rights activities
On 27 April 1989, Liu returned to Beijing and immediately and actively supported the popular movement. When the army looked set violently eject from Tiananmen Square the students who persistently occupied the Square to challenge the government and army enforcing the martial law, he initiated a four-man three-day hunger strikeHunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
on 2 June. Later referred to as the "Tiananmen Four Gentlemen Hunger Strike", the action was to earn the trust from the students. He requested that the government and the students abandon the ideology of class struggle and to adopt a new kind of political culture for dialogue and compromise. Although it was too late to prevent the massacre from occurring beyond the Square starting from the night of 3 June, he and his colleagues successfully negotiated with the student leaders and the army commander to let all the several thousand students withdraw peacefully from the Square, thus avoiding a possible bloodshed in a much larger scale.
On 6 June, Liu was arrested and detained in Qincheng Prison
Qincheng Prison
Qincheng Prison is a maximum-security prison located in the Changping District, Beijing in the People's Republic of China, near Xiaotangshan...
for his alleged role in the movement, and three months later was expelled from the Beijing Normal University. The government's media issued numerous publications which labelled him a "mad dog" and "black hand" because he had allegedly incited and manipulated the student movement to overthrow the government and socialists. His publications were banned, including his fourth book in press, Going Naked Toward God. In Taiwan however, his first and third books were republished with some additions as Criticism of the Choice: Dialogues with Leading Thinker LI Zehou (1989), and the two-volume Mysteries of Thought and Dreams of Mankind (1990).
In January 1991, 19 months since his arrest, Liu Xiaobo was convicted on the offence of "counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement" but exempted from criminal punishment for his "major meritorious action" for having avoided the possibly bloody confrontation at Tiananmen Square. After his release, he was divorced and eventually his ex-wife and son immigrated to the US. He resumed his writing, mostly on human rights and political issues though he has not been allowed to publish in Mainland China. In 1992, he published in Taiwan his first book after his imprisonment, The Monologues of a Doomsday’s Survivor, a controversial memoir with his confessions and political criticism on the popular movement in 1989.
In January 1993, Liu was invited to visit Australia and the US for the interviews in the documentary film Gate of Heavenly Peace. Although many of his friends suggested that he take refuge abroad, Liu returned China in May 1993 and continued his freelance writing.
On 18 May 1995, the police took Liu into custody for launching a petition campaign on the eve of the sixth anniversary of June 4 massacre, calling on the government to reassess the event and to initiate political reform. He was held under residential surveillance in the suburbs of Beijing for 9 months. He was released in February 1996 but arrested again on 8 October for an October Tenth Declaration, co-authored by him and another prominent dissident Wang Xizhe, mainly on Taiwan issue that advocated the peaceful unification to oppose Chinese Communist Party's forceful treats toward the island. He was ordered to serve three years of re-education through labor on "disturbing public order” for that statement. In the same year, he married Liu Xia.
After his release on 7 October 1999, Liu Xiaobo resumed his freelance writing. However, it is reported that the government built a sentry station next to his home and his phone calls and internet connections were tapped.
In 2000, he published in Taiwan A Nation That Lies to Conscience, a 400-paged political criticism. Also published, in Hong Kong, was Selection of Poems, a 450-paged collection of the poems as correspondences between him and his wife during his imprisonment; it was co-authored by Liu and his wife. The last of three books which he published during the year was in Mainland China, titled The Beauty Offers Me Drug: Literary Dialogues between Wang Shuo and Lao Xia, a 250-paged collection of literary critiques co-authored by a popular young writer and by himself under his unknown penname of "Lao Xiao". In the same year, Liu participated in founding the Independent Chinese PEN Centre and was elected to its board of directors as well as its president in November 2003, re-elected two years later. In 2007, he did not seek for the re-election of the president but hold his position of the board member until detained by the police in December 2008.
In 2004, when he started to write a Human Rights Report of China at home, his computer, letters and documents were confiscated by the government. He once said, "at Liu Xia's [Liu's wife] birthday, her best friend brought two bottles of wine to [my home] but was blocked by the police from coming in. I ordered a [birthday] cake and the police also rejected the man who delivered the cake to us. I quarreled with them and the police said, "it is for the sake of your security. It has happened many bomb attacks in these days." Those measures were loosened until 2007, prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
In January 2005, following the death of former Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang
Zhao Ziyang
Zhao Ziyang was a high-ranking politician in the People's Republic of China . He was the third Premier of the People's Republic of China from 1980 to 1987, and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 1987 to 1989....
, who showed sympathy to protesters of the student demonstration in 1989, Liu was immediately put under house arrest for two weeks before realizing the death of Zhao. In the same year, he published two more books in the US, Future of Free China Exists in Civil Society, and Single-Blade Poisonous Sword: Criticism of Chinese Nationalism.
His writing is considered subversive by the Chinese Communist Party, and his name is censored. He has called for multi-party elections, free markets, advocated values of freedom, supported separation of powers and urged the governments to be accountable for its wrongdoings
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was a court-like restorative justice body assembled in South Africa after the abolition of apartheid. Witnesses who were identified as victims of gross human rights violations were invited to give statements about their experiences, and some were selected...
. When not in prison, he has been the subject of government monitoring and put under house arrest during sensitive times.
Liu's human rights work has received international recognition. In 2004, Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
awarded him the Fondation de France Prize as a defender of press freedom.
| Prison term | Reason | Result |
|---|---|---|
| June 1989 – January 1991 | Charged with spreading messages to instigate counterrevolutionary behavior. | Imprisoned in one of China's best-known maximum security prisons, Qincheng Prison Qincheng Prison Qincheng Prison is a maximum-security prison located in the Changping District, Beijing in the People's Republic of China, near Xiaotangshan... , and discharged when he signed a "letter of repentance." |
| May 1995 – January 1996 | Being involved in democracy and human rights movement and voicing publicly the need to redress government's wrongdoings in the student protest of 1989 | Released after being jailed for six months. |
| October 1996 – October 1999 | Charged with disturbing the social order | Jailed in a labor education camp for three years. In 1996, he married Liu Xia Liu Xia (intellectual) Liu Xia is a Chinese painter, poet, and photographer who resides in Beijing, China. She is best known as the wife of 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo.-Biography:... . |
| December 2009 – 2020 | Charged with spreading a message to subvert the country and authority | Sentenced for 11 years and deprived of all political rights for two years. Currently imprisoned in Jinzhou Jinzhou Jinzhou , is a prefecture-level city of Liaoning province, China. It is a geographically strategic city located in the "Liaoxi Corridor" , which connects land transportation between North China and Northeast China. Jinzhou is China's northernmost seaport and the coastal economic center of West... Prison in Liaoning Province. |
Conception and diffusion of the Charter
Manifesto
A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. Manifestos relating to religious belief are generally referred to as creeds. Manifestos may also be life stance-related.-Etymology:...
released on 10 December 2008 to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...
. It was written in the style of the Czechoslovak Charter 77
Charter 77
Charter 77 was an informal civic initiative in communist Czechoslovakia from 1976 to 1992, named after the document Charter 77 from January 1977. Founding members and architects were Václav Havel, Jan Patočka, Zdeněk Mlynář, Jiří Hájek, and Pavel Kohout. Spreading the text of the document was...
, calling for more freedom of expression, human rights, more democratic elections, for privatizing state enterprises and land and for economic liberalism
Economic liberalism
Economic liberalism is the ideological belief in giving all people economic freedom, and as such granting people with more basis to control their own lives and make their own mistakes. It is an economic philosophy that supports and promotes individual liberty and choice in economic matters and...
. As of September 2010, the Charter has collected over 10,000 signatures.
Arrest
Two days before the official release of the Charter, late in the evening of 8 December 2008, Liu was taken into custody by the police, as was Zhang Zuhua, another scholar and Charter 08 signatory. According to Zhang, the two were detained on suspicion of gathering signatures to the Charter. While Liu was detained in solitary confinementSolitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and has been cited as an additional...
, he was forbidden to meet with his lawyer or family, though he was allowed to eat lunch with his wife, Liu Xia, and two policemen on New Year's Day 2009. On 23 June 2009, the Beijing procuratorate approved Liu's arrest on charges of "suspicion of inciting subversion of state power," a crime under Article 105 of China's Criminal Law
Law of the People's Republic of China
Law of the People's Republic of China is the legal regime of the People's Republic of China, with the separate legal traditions and systems of Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau....
. In a Xinhua
Xinhua News Agency
The Xinhua News Agency is the official press agency of the government of the People's Republic of China and the biggest center for collecting information and press conferences in the PRC. It is the largest news agency in the PRC, ahead of the China News Service...
news release announcing Liu's arrest, the Beijing Public Security Bureau
Public Security Bureau
In the People's Republic of China, a public security bureau refers to the government offices while the smaller offices are called Police posts which are similar in concept to the Japanese Kōban system) present in each province and municipality that handles policing , public security, and...
alleged that Liu had incited the subversion of state power and the overturn of the socialist system through methods such as spreading rumors and slander, citing almost verbatim Article 105; the Beijing PSB also noted that Liu had "fully confessed."
Trial
On 1 December 2009, Beijing police transferred Liu's case to the procuratorate for investigation and processing; on 10 December, the procuratorate formally indicted Liu on charges of "inciting subversion of state powerInciting subversion of state power
Inciting subversion of state power is a crime under the law of the People's Republic of China. It is article 105, paragraph 2 of the 1997 revision of the People's Republic of China's Penal Code....
" under and sent his lawyers, Shang Baojun and Ding Xikui, the indictment document. He was tried at Beijing No. 1 Intermediate Court on 23 December 2009. His wife was not permitted to observe the hearing, although his brother-in-law was present. Diplomats from more than a dozen states – including the U.S., Britain, Canada, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand – were denied access to the court to watch the trial and stood outside the court for its duration. Amongst these included Gregory May, political officer at the U.S. Embassy, and Nicholas Weeks, first secretary of the Swedish Embassy.
This statement, titled "I have no enemies
I Have No Enemies
"I have no enemies: My final Statement" was an essay written by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo intended to be read at his trial in December 2009.Liu was charged with the crime of "inciting subversion of state power"...
", was later read in the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize
2010 Nobel Peace Prize
The 2010 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to imprisoned Chinese human rights activist "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China"...
ceremony, which Liu was unable to attend due to imprisonment. On 25 December 2009, Liu was sentenced to eleven years' imprisonment and two years' deprivation of political rights by the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate Court on charges of "inciting subversion of state power." According to Liu's family and counsel, he plans to appeal the judgment. In the verdict, Charter 08 was named as part of the evidence supporting his conviction. John Pomfret
John Pomfret (journalist)
John Pomfret is an American journalist and writer. He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and raised in New York. He attended Stanford University, receiving his B.A. and M.A. in East Asian Studies. In 1980, he was one of the first American students to go to China and study at Nanjing University...
of The Washington Post said Christmas Day was chosen to dump the news because the Chinese government believed Westerners were less likely to take notice on a holiday.
In an article published in the South China Morning Post, Liu argued that his verdict violated China's constitution, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations. He argued that charges against him of 'spreading rumours, slandering and in other ways inciting the subversion of the government and overturning the socialist system' were contrived, as he did not fabricate or create false information, nor did he besmirch the good name and character of others by merely expressing a point of view, a value judgment.
International response
Liu's detention was condemned worldwide by organisations and other countries. On 11 December 2008, the U.S. Department of State called for Liu's release, which was followed on 22 December 2008 by a similar request from a consortium of scholars, writers, lawyers and human rights advocates. Additionally, on 21 January 2009, 300 international writers, including Salman Rushdie, Margaret AtwoodMargaret Atwood
Margaret Eleanor Atwood, is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C...
, Ha Jin
Ha Jin
Jīn Xuěfēi is a contemporary Chinese-American writer and novelist using the pen name Ha Jin . Ha comes from his favorite city, Harbin.-Early life:...
and Jung Chang
Jung Chang
Jung Chang is a Chinese-born British writer now living in London, best known for her family autobiography Wild Swans, selling over 10 million copies worldwide but banned in the People's Republic of China....
, called for Liu's release in a statement put out through PEN
International PEN
PEN International , the worldwide association of writers, was founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere....
. In March 2009, the One World Film Festival
One World Film Festival
One World is the biggest human rights film festival in the world, held annually in Prague and other cities of the Czech Republic. Established in 1999 by the Czech NGO People in Need, the presents over 100 documentary films during nine days in Spring from around the world...
awarded Liu Xiaobo the Homo Homini Award, organized by the People in Need foundation
People In Need (Czech Republic)
People in Need is a Czech nonprofit, non-governmental organization that implements humanitarian relief and long term development projects in crisis regions all over the world, while working to defend human rights and democratic freedom....
, for promoting freedom of speech, democratic principles and human rights.
In December 2009, the European Union and United States issued formal appeals calling for the unconditional release of Liu Xiaobo. China, responding to the international calls prior to the verdict, stated that other nations should "respect China's judicial sovereignty and to not do things that will interfere in China's internal affairs."
Responding to the verdict, United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Navanethem Pillay expressed concern at the deterioration of political rights in China. German Chancellor Angela Merkel
Angela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.From 2005 to 2009 she led a...
strongly criticized the verdict, stating "despite the great progress in other areas in the expression of views, I regret that the Chinese government still massively restricts press freedom." Canada and Switzerland also condemned the verdict. The Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
President Ma Ying-jeou
Ma Ying-jeou
Ma Ying-jeou is the 12th term and current President of the Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan, and the Chairman of the Kuomintang Party, also known as the Chinese Nationalist Party. He formerly served as Justice Minister from 1993 to 1996, Mayor of Taipei from 1998 to 2006, and Chairman...
called on Beijing to "tolerate dissent". On 6 January 2010, former Czech president Václav Havel joined with other communist-era dissidents at the Chinese Embassy in Prague to present a petition calling for Liu's release. On 22 January 2010, European Association for Chinese Studies sent an open letter to Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao is the current Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China. He has held the titles of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China since 2002, President of the People's Republic of China since 2003, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2004, succeeding Jiang...
on behalf of over 800 scholars from 36 countries calling for Liu's release.
On 18 January 2010, Liu was nominated for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize
2010 Nobel Peace Prize
The 2010 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to imprisoned Chinese human rights activist "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China"...
by Václav Havel
Václav Havel
Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...
, the 14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama is the 14th and current Dalai Lama. Dalai Lamas are the most influential figures in the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, although the 14th has consolidated control over the other lineages in recent years...
, André Glucksmann
André Glucksmann
André Glucksmann is a French philosopher and writer, and member of the French new philosophers.-Early years:André Glucksmann was born in 1937, in Boulogne-Billancourt, the son of Ashkenazi Jewish parents from Romania and Czechoslovakia. He studied in Lyon, and later enrolled at École normale...
, Vartan Gregorian
Vartan Gregorian
Vartan Gregorian is an Armenian-American academic, serving as the president of Carnegie Corporation of New York. He is an ethnic Armenian, born in Iran....
, Mike Moore, Karel Schwarzenberg
Karel Schwarzenberg
Karel Schwarzenberg or Karel, Prince of Schwarzenberg , 7...
, Desmond Tutu
Desmond Tutu
Desmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid...
and Grigory Yavlinsky. China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ma Zhaoxu stated that awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu would be "totally wrong". Geir Lundestad, a secretary of the Nobel Committee, stated the award would not be influenced by Beijing's opposition. On 25 September 2010, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reported that a petition in support of the Nobel nomination was being circulated in China.
On 14 September 2010, the Mayor of Reykjavík, Jón Gnarr
Jón Gnarr
Jón Gnarr Kristinsson is an Icelandic actor, comedian, politician and the mayor of Reykjavík, since 15 June 2010. He goes by Jón Gnarr, being an Icelander does not have a family name. He was originally named Jón Gunnar Kristinsson but legally changed his middle name in 2005, to the way his mother...
, met on an unrelated matter with CPC Politburo member Liu Qi and demanded China set the dissident Liu Xiaobo free. Also that September Václav Havel, Dana Němcová and Václav Malý, leaders of Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 – December 29, 1989...
, published an open letter in the International Herald Tribune
International Herald Tribune
The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...
calling for the award to be given to Liu, while a petition began to circulate soon afterwards.
On 6 October 2010, the non-governmental organization Freedom Now
Freedom Now
Freedom Now is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit, non-partisan organization that seeks to facilitate representation for arbitrarily detained individuals who have neither used nor advocated violence and whose detention violates fundamental principles of international law.Its approach is to use...
, which serves as an international counsel to Liu Xiaobo as retained by his family, publicly released a letter from 30 members of the U.S. Congress to President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, urging him to directly raise both Liu's case and that of fellow imprisoned dissident Gao Zhisheng
Gao Zhisheng
Gao Zhisheng is a Chinese human rights attorney and dissident known for defending activists and religious minorities and documenting alleged human rights abuses in China. Because of his work, Zhisheng has been disbarred and detained by the Chinese government several times and released...
to Chinese President Hu Jintao at the G-20 Summit in November 2010. The Republic of China President Ma Ying-jiu congratulated Liu on winning the Nobel Prize and requested Chinese authorities to improve their impression to the world about human rights, but not calling for his release from prison.
In 2011, the WorldWideReading is dedicated to Liu Xiaobo; on March 20, there were readings in more than 60 towns and cities on all continents and broadcast via radio stations. The appeal "Freedom for Liu Xiaobo" has so far been supported by more than 700 writers from around the world, amongst them the Nobel Prize laureates John M. Coetzee, Nadine Gordimer, Herta Müller and Elfriede Jelinek, as well as Breyten Breytenbach, Eliot Weinberger, Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth, Mario Vargas Llosa, Wolf Biermann and Dave Eggers.
Nobel Peace Prize
On 8 October 2010, the Nobel Committee awarded Liu the Nobel Peace Prize "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China," saying that Liu had long been front-runner as the recipient of the prize.China reacted negatively to the award, immediately censoring
Censorship in the People's Republic of China
Censorship in the People's Republic of China is implemented or mandated by the PRC's ruling party, the Communist Party of China . The special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau have their own legal systems and are largely self-governing, so these censorship policies do not apply...
news about the announcement of the award in China, though later that day became available. Foreign news broadcasters including CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
and the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
were immediately blocked, while heavy censorship
Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China
Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China is conducted under a wide variety of laws and administrative regulations. There are no specific laws or regulations which the censorship follows...
was applied to personal communications. The Chinese Foreign Ministry denounced the award to Liu Xiaobo, saying that it "runs completely counter to the principle of the award and is also a desecration of the Peace Prize." The Norwegian ambassador to the People's Republic of China was summoned by the Foreign Ministry on 8 October 2010 and was presented with an official complaint about the granting of the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu. The Chinese government has called Liu Xiaobo a criminal and stated that he does not deserve the prize. Chinese dissident Wei Jingsheng
Wei Jingsheng
Wei Jingsheng is a Chinese activist known for his involvement in the Chinese democracy movement, most prominent for authoring the document Fifth Modernization on the "Democracy Wall" in Beijing in 1978. He is generally known for getting arrested and spending 15 years in prison due to the document...
criticized Liu by calling him "the accomplice of the Communist regime."
Following the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize, celebrations in China were either stopped or curtailed, and prominent intellectuals and other dissidents were detained, harassed or put under surveillance; Liu's wife, Liu Xia
Liu Xia (intellectual)
Liu Xia is a Chinese painter, poet, and photographer who resides in Beijing, China. She is best known as the wife of 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo.-Biography:...
, was placed under house arrest, and was forbidden to talk to reporters even though no official charges were brought. Sixty-five countries with missions in Norway were all invited to the Nobel Prize ceremony, but fifteen declined, in some cases due to heavy lobbying by China. Besides China, these countries were Russia, Kazakhstan, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Vietnam, Venezuela, Egypt, Sudan, Cuba and Morocco.
China also imposed travel restrictions on known dissidents ahead of the ceremony. A Chinese group announced that its answer to the Nobel Peace Prize, the Confucius Peace Prize
Confucius Peace Prize
The Confucius Peace Prize is a prize of the People's Republic of China established in 2010 in response to a proposal by business person Liu Zhiqin on November 17, 2010, although members of the award committee said the prize had been around much longer...
, would be awarded to former Taiwan Vice-President Lien Chan
Lien Chan
Lien Chan is a politician in Taiwan. He was Premier of the Republic of China from 1993 to 1997, Vice President of the Republic of China from 1996 to 2000, and was the Chairman of the Kuomintang from 2000 to 2005...
for the bridge of peace he has been building between Taiwan and Mainland China. Lien Chan himself denied any knowledge of the $15,000 prize.
Awards and Honors
- Hellman-Hammett GrantHuman Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
(1990, 1996) - China Foundation on Democracy Education for Outstanding Democratic Activist(2003)
- Fondation de France PrizeReporters Without BordersReporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
for defender of press freedom (2004) - Hong Kong Human Rights Press AwardsHong Kong Human Rights Press AwardsThe Hong Kong Human Rights Press Awards recognize coverage of issues covered in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as related to Asia.-Organization:...
(2004, 2005, 2006) - Excellent Award (2004) for an article Corrupted News is not News, published on Open MagazineOPEN MagazineOPEN Magazine was a quarterly city and lifestyle magazine focusing upon fashion, style, entertainment, dining and culture for the Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota metropolitan areas. Feature articles generally cover local people, businesses, restaurants, entertainment, sports, home and...
, January 2004 issue - Grand Prize (2005) for an article Paradise of the Powerful, Hell of the Vulnerable on Open MagazineOPEN MagazineOPEN Magazine was a quarterly city and lifestyle magazine focusing upon fashion, style, entertainment, dining and culture for the Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota metropolitan areas. Feature articles generally cover local people, businesses, restaurants, entertainment, sports, home and...
, September 2004 issue - Excellent Award (2006) for The Causes and Ending of Shanwei BloodshedDongzhou protestsA series of protests took place for seven months up to December 2005 in Dongzhou , a village in Shanwei prefecture-level city, Guangdong Province, China, organized in opposition to government plans to partially infill the bay and build a new power plant. It resulted in the shooting deaths of...
on Open MagazineOPEN MagazineOPEN Magazine was a quarterly city and lifestyle magazine focusing upon fashion, style, entertainment, dining and culture for the Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota metropolitan areas. Feature articles generally cover local people, businesses, restaurants, entertainment, sports, home and...
, January 2006 - Asia-Pacific Human Rights Foundation (Australia) Courage of Conscience Award (2007)
- People In NeedPeople In Need (Czech Republic)People in Need is a Czech nonprofit, non-governmental organization that implements humanitarian relief and long term development projects in crisis regions all over the world, while working to defend human rights and democratic freedom....
(Czech) Homo Homini Award (2009) - PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write AwardPEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write AwardThe PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award honours writers anywhere in the world who have fought courageously in the face of adversity for the right to freedom of expression....
(2009) - Independent Federation of Chinese Students and ScholarsIndependent Federation of Chinese Students and ScholarsThe Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars was founded on August 1, 1989, when over 1000 Chinese student representatives from more than 200 major U.S. universities held their First Congress of Chinese Students and Scholars in USA at the University of Illinois at Chicago and...
(USA) Free Spirit Award (2009) - German PEN Hermann Kesten MedalHermann Kesten MedalThe Hermann Kesten Medal , named after Hermann Kesten , is a prize awarded annually for outstanding efforts in support of persecuted writers according to the principles of the Charter of International P.E.N. In 1985, the P.E.N...
(2010) - Nobel Peace PrizeNobel Peace PrizeThe Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
(2010) - Honorary member of German, American, Portuguese, Czech and Sydney PEN Centers, and Honorary President of Independent Chinese PEN Centre.
See also
- Shirin EbadiShirin EbadiShirin Ebadi is an Iranian lawyer, a former judge and human rights activist and founder of Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. On 10 October 2003, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her significant and pioneering efforts for democracy and human rights, especially women's,...
- Human rights in the People's Republic of ChinaHuman rights in the People's Republic of ChinaHuman rights in the People's Republic of China are a matter of dispute between the Chinese government, other countries, international NGOs, and dissidents inside the country. Organizations such as the U.S. State Department, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch have accused the Chinese...
- List of Chinese dissidents
- Weiquan movementWeiquan movementThe Weiquan movement is a non-centralized group of lawyers, legal experts and intellectuals in the People's Republic of China who seek to protect and defend the civil rights of the citizenry through litigation and legal activism...
- Internet censorship in the People's Republic of ChinaInternet censorship in the People's Republic of ChinaInternet censorship in the People's Republic of China is conducted under a wide variety of laws and administrative regulations. There are no specific laws or regulations which the censorship follows...
- Blocking of Wikipedia by the People's Republic of China
- Internet freedom
- Freedom of the pressFreedom of the pressFreedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...
External links
- Collection of news articles about Liu Xiaobo, via China Digital TimesChina Digital TimesChina Digital Times is a bilingual "collaborative news website covering China’s social and political transition and its emerging role in the world," according to the site's About page...
- English language articles and interviews
- Film Excerpts of Liu Xiaobo from The Gate of Heavenly Peace
- Nobel Peace Prize: Another Exercise in Political Cynicism
- The Poet in an Unknown Prison letter by Liu from The New York Review of BooksThe New York Review of BooksThe New York Review of Books is a fortnightly magazine with articles on literature, culture and current affairs. Published in New York City, it takes as its point of departure that the discussion of important books is itself an indispensable literary activity...
- Unofficial English translation of Liu Xiaobo's 2009 criminal verdict
- "Further Questions about Child Slavery in China's Kilns" - the Chinese court supporting Liu Xiaobo's subversion conviction
- Jailed Chinese Dissident Liu Xiaobo Awarded Nobel Peace Prize - video report by Democracy Now!Democracy Now!Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...
- Barry Sautman & Yan Hairong (15 December 2010). "Do supporters of Nobel winner Liu Xiaobo really know what he stands for?", The Guardian