China calls Liu Xiaobo’s peace prize a “blasphemy”
Posted on 08. Oct, 2010 by Leon Kennedy in World
The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Chinese human rights activist Liu Xiaobo is getting negative reactions from Chinese officials. On Friday, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said that giving the award to Xiaobo was “blasphemy against the peace prize”, and added that it could also contribute to degrading the relationship between China and Norway.
This spokesman also said that giving the prize to Xiaobo contradicts the purpose of the prize, to “promote national harmony, international friendship”. While Western perspectives may paint Xiaobo as a humanitarian, those of China do so in an entirely different light. “Liu Xiaobo is a convicted criminal sentenced to jail by Chinese justice. His acts are in complete contradiction to the purpose of the Nobel Peace Prize,” said spokesman Mao Zhaoxu.
Liu Xiaobo is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence (begun in 2009) for promoting subversion to state power. He was also involved with the student protests at Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Again, while the Western perspective will readily paint a picture of Liu Xiaobo the humanitarian, and China the oppressive state, it could be considered as a bit of an insult to China to depict one of their criminals as a hero, especially at an event that’s meant to be international in character; instead, we have a specifically liberal Western view of the world presiding over the award, and China is understandably upset about it.
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