For the first time in 75 years, no representative of the winner was allowed to make the trip to receive the peace medal, a diploma and the $1.5 million check that comes with it.
The last time that happened was in 1935, when Hitler prevented that year’s winner, Count Carl von Ossietzky, who was imprisoned in a concentration camp, and indeed anyone from Germany from attending the ceremony.
Noting Mr. Liu’s absence, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Thorbjorn Jagland, said to a standing ovation: “This fact alone shows that the award was necessary and appropriate.”
“It is no coincidence that nearly all the richest countries in the world are democratic, because democracy mobilizes new human and technological resources,” he said. “China’s new status entails increased responsibility. China must be prepared for criticism, and regard it as a positive, as an opportunity for improvement.” Representatives from the 60-plus diplomatic missions accredited in Oslo normally attend the ceremony. But this year 16 ambassadors, including those from China and Russia, declined to attend, Nobel officials said, although not all characterized their absence as a direct result of the intense pressure and threats of reprisal from China.
Instead of a statement from Mr. Liu, a piece of his writing was read by the Norwegian actress and movie director Liv Ullmann . ( 纽约时报 )
Jagland 主席 : “He has done nothing wrong. He must be released. (from NPR report this morning)
From what I know, he was charged for subversion because he drafted the Charter of 08. If there is such a law that outlaws such a completely peaceful excercise of free expression, then the problem is not his activity, it's the unconstituitionality of that law, for the Chinese Constitution says the state protects the free speech. Of course, I know you know what's going on here. So I'm not going to lecture you the absurdity in today's China's situation. True, today's China is better than 50 years ago, when Mao's tyranic rule made the whole country a living hell. But if you think the government has somehow already found the best way for the whole nation, well think again. There are millions and millions of people who disgree with you. Try to brush their opinion aside, or even silence them with tyrany, is both morally bankrupt and politically dangerous. In the long history of human kind, with a few aberrances like Mao and Nero, most rulers wanted stability, and almost universally promised that good would come if everybody be subservient to his/her rule. Today's Chinese rulers are no different than them. More than often they were wrong. Are most policies of today's Chinese leadership really in the best interest of China and her people? I don't pretend I really know. That's why it's the government's responsibility to build a healthy environment to allow discussion to be carried out. Frankly, Chinese government may have built a lot of buildings and roads, but it so far has failed to build the most important thing for a country's future: the environment and system that allow people to express their opinion. And, don't be fooled by the glizzy facade of what the government likes to show the world. Sometime the supremacy of stability is the effort to keep the music playing, until it stops. For Chinese people's sake, let's hope that would never happen. But it's not really upto anybody. Not even the great leaders who hole up in an exclusive complex in the center of Beijing.
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戏演完了，椅子就空了，懂了吗？ Mr.90kg
笨蛋！
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to 老东家 EnoughIsEnough
"Who gets to decide what is good for a country?". Of course it is not me, it should be decided by the collective wisdom of Chinese people, especially the middle class and the intellects. Although China still faces many problems, it has risen to become the second largest economy in on 20 years and people today enjoy much more freedom then 20 years ago. They must have done many things right. On the other hand, we in the West countries have witnessed many problems with West political system and culture. Liu is not just an "inconvenience" to the system, he did break Chinese law and he could mislead people and cause unnecessary troubles while people should focus on stability and make gradual reform and progress.
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To EnoughIsEnough 老东家
First of all, I said what I said because there are some people in China and here used this phrase purportedly be Liu Xiaobo to demonize him. I just pointed it out that such lowly tactic should have no place in a earnest discussion. Secondly, who gets to decide what is good for a country? The government? You? It is widely accepted that, in fact by the Chinese Constitution as well, the one's rights of free expression is protected. As long as it's done peacefully, the government should never throw someone into jail just because he doesn't agree with you, and said so publicly. If you think it is OK to make someone shut up, even by throwing him in jail, because what he says is inconvenient to your grand scheme of doing things, then you are not very far from this young boy in China who killed a woman who had just been hit and injured by his careless driving. Because in his mind, the existence of that woman in the world might cast a trouble in his future. Well, good luck to you in your life.
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It does not matter if he said “中国应该让西方殖民三百年”or not. The point is that Liu's activities serve the best interests of the West, not the best interests of China and Chinese people. China has it own history, culture and its own way of approaching modernization including openness, justice, human rights and democracy. It is none of the West's business.
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老东家, ak47ak47ak47, lianggeren, wwe, flavor, xkk, whz1234, 神8, kobe001, 哈小玫, xtsam ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I suggest that you change your status from .25 per post here to much more money paid by your papas to Liu Xiao Po. Watch Wiki and see how Liu is paid for overthrowing Chinese government.
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As a person who was born to Chinese parents in China and who can read Chinese characters, I feel extremely bad today ...
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这把空椅子说明这个奖发得合适，那么其它各次椅子不空的奖都没有意义。中国要适应诺委的批评，那么诺委当然也得适应中国和其他国家对其作法的批评。即便椅子空了，许过国家抵制了，也得接受事实，反思自己的行为。Learn some respect!
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