Jailed Chinese dissident Liu wins Nobel Peace Prize
(October 8, 2010) Jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo (LEE-o SHAo-boh) won the 2010
Nobel Peace Prize on Friday “for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental
human rights in China,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee said. The committee says it
has long believed that there is a close connection between human rights and peace.
The prize has been bitterly denounced by the Chinese government, which warned the
Nobel committee about giving the award to Liu. It was the first Nobel for the Chinese
dissident community since it resurfaced after the country's communist leadership launched
economic, but not political reforms three decades ago. The prize puts China's human
rights in the spotlight at a time Beijing has sought to play a bigger role on the
global stage. Liu was jailed for 11 years from last December for subversion of state
power, a year after his detention as lead author of Charter 08, a manifesto issued
by Chinese intellectuals and activists calling for free speech and multi-party elections.
The former literature professor rose to prominence as a strike leader during protests
on Tiananmen Square in 1989. He was later jailed for 20 months and then spent three
years in a "labour re-education" camp during the 1990s, as well as months under virtual
house arrest.