Jailed Chinese Dissident Wins Nobel Peace Prize
Jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo probably won’t be told that he is the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, his wife observes, and it’s unclear how he will receive the $1.46 million prize.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee is recognizing Liu for his “his long and nonviolent struggle for fundamental human rights in China,” the New York Times reports. He is currently serving an 11-year sentence for subversion.
“In a move that in retrospect may have been counterproductive,” the Times reports, “a senior Chinese official recently warned the Norwegian committee’s chairman that giving the prize to Mr. Liu would adversely affect relations between the two countries.”
Liu helped negotiate students’ withdrawal from Tiananmen Square and helped craft a 2008 manifesto calling for human rights, judicial independence and political reform.
