Chinese authorities seemed to once again resort to intimidation tactics this week, when they warned the Norwegian Nobel Committee against awarding this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to Chinese human rights activist Liu Xiaobo.
Liu has been nominated for the prize by several persons in a position to do so, including author Salman Rushdie, Czech leader Vaclav Havel and Jan Tore Sanner, a member of Norway’s Parliament.
Liu was recently sentenced to 11 years in prison for his role in a manifesto demanding democratic reforms in China.
Geir Lundestad told news bureau NTB that there was “nothing new” about China’s warning. “They’ve come with warnings before, but they have no influence on the commitee’s work,” Lundestad told NTB. “We have earlier given the prize to Dalai Lama and shown that we don’t worry so much about China’s criticism.”
Views and News staff