President Obama asks China to free Nobel Prize winner

[sabrina 1]

I am so glad he did this.

Obama asks China to free Nobel Peace Prize winner

has applauded the Nobel Committee's decision to honour jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo with the 2010 Peace Prize and asked Beijing < Images > to release the 'courageous' human rights activist as soon as possible.



"By granting the prize to Liu, the Nobel Committee has chosen someone who has been an eloquent and courageous spokesman for the advance of universal values through peaceful and non-violent means, including his support for democracy, human rights and the rule of law," Obama said in a statement on Friday night.


"This award reminds us that political reform has not kept pace, and that the basic human rights of every man, woman and child must be respected. We call on the Chinese government to release Liu as soon as possible," Obama said.


Welcoming the Nobel Committee's decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu, Obama, who was the recipient of the coveted prize in 2009, said, "Last year, I noted that so many others who have received the award had sacrificed so much more than I. That list now includes Mr Liu, who has sacrificed his freedom for his beliefs."


"As I said last year in Oslo, even as we respect the unique culture and traditions of different countries, America will always be a voice for those aspirations that are universal to all human beings," the US President said.

Liu Xiaobo is a very brave man. This is the fourth time he has been imprisoned for speaking on behalf of basic human rights in China.

During the democracy protests of 1989, he returned to China from New York, where he was teaching, to join the demonstrators. On the night of June 3, with military forces preparing to crush the protesters, he persuaded many to leave Tiananmen square.


"In fact, most deaths occurred elsewhere in the city. He was jailed for his role at Tiananmen, and again for criticising (the ruling) Chinese Communist Party general secretary Jiang Zemin. The CCP is not his only target; in 2005 he took fellow Chinese citizens to task for racist comments on the internet about Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

He was jailed his part in the Tiananmen Square protests also.

China warned against awarding him the Nobel Prize and has demanded that the UN and others including the U.S., and the EU respect their internal policies.

President Obama, Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi join many around the world who have also asked China to release Liu.

More on this exceptionally courageous man who has not been deterred by threats or imprisonment. He has spent a total of approximately eight years since 1989:

Liu Xiaobo

International response



Following Liu's detention, a number of individuals, states and organizations across the world called for his release. On 11 December 2008, the U.S. Department of State called for Liu's release;<28> on 22 December 2008, a consortium of scholars, writers, lawyers and human rights advocates called for Liu's release in an open letter;<29> and on 21 January 2009, 300 international writers, including Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, Ha Jin and Jung Chang, called for Liu's release in a statement put out through PEN.<21>

In March 2009 Liu Xiaobo was awarded with the Homo Homini Award by the One World Film Festival, organized by the People in Need foundation, for promoting freedom of speech, democratic principles and human rights.<30>

In December 2009, the European Union and United States both issued formal appeals calling for the unconditional release of Liu Xiaobo.<31><32>

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."<33>

Responding to the verdict, United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Navanethem Pillay expressed concern at the deterioration of political rights in China.<34> 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."<35> Canada and Switzerland also condemned the verdict.<36><37> Republic of China (Taiwan) President Ma Ying-jeou called on Beijing to "tolerate dissent".<38> 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.<39> 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.<40>

It would be a real sign of progress if China were to respond positively to this outpouring of support for Liu from the world. But it doesn't look like they will so far, as they have filed a complaint with Norway regarding the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to him. Norway informed them that they are not responsible for the award.

Liu is married to Liu Xia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liu_Xia_(wife_of_Liu_Xiaobo)

Liu Xia (born 1959), is a painter, poet, and photographer who resides in Beijing, China. She is best known as the wife of Nobel Peace Prize winner 2010 Liu Xiaobo.

Liu Xia met Liu Xiaobo while part of the Beijing literary scene in the 1980s.<1> She married Liu Xiaobo while he was imprisoned in China in a labor re-education camp, between the years of 1996 and 1999.

Ms. Liu prefers to lead the solitary life of an intellectual.<1> However, as Mr. Liu's wife and because he is often imprisoned for his activities, she has been forced into the public arena. She has been described as her husband's "most important link to the outside world."<1> Because she is the wife of one of China's most prominent human rights advocates, she also personally experiences pressures from Chinese authorities for publicly voicing opinions.<2> Since his arrest, she lives under constant surveillance.

[Lyric]

1. Good for Obama.

[sabrina 1]

2. Yes, I was hoping the U.S. would do this as the rest of the Western

World and the UN have all asked for his release. Good for Obama and Hillary too, and Nancy Pelosi. No Republicans though. At least I couldn't find any statements from any of them.

[sabrina 1]

3. Liu's wife has disappeared.

She was hoping to be there when the announcement of the Nobel Prize was made, but since it learned that

'We are all worried'

But there was still no word from the winner himself. The mobile phone of his wife, Liu Xia, was turned off Saturday as she was expected to be en route with police to the prison to meet her husband.

"She's disappeared. We're all worried about them," Liu's lawyer, Shang Baojun, told The Associated Press on Saturday.
He said even Liu Xia's mother had been unable to reach her.

Liu's wife's freedom of movement had been shrinking since the eve of the Nobel announcement when, she said, police came to her apartment to try to get her out of Beijing, offering her a prison visit with Liu.

The police had told her she could go visit her husband and that would have been when he learned about the prize.

Observers don't think the Chinese Government will release him and students on internet boards seemed conflicted, wondering why someone in prison should receive a Nobel Peace Prize but proud at the same time.