2010 Nobel Peace Prize

2010 Nobel Peace Prize
2010 Nobel Peace Prize
Liu Xiaobo
	"for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China."
Date	8 October 2010 (announcement by Thorbjørn Jagland); 10 December 2010 ; (ceremony);
Location	Oslo, Norway
Presented by	Norwegian Nobel Committee
Reward(s)	10 million SEK ($1.5M)
First awarded	1901
Website	Official website

The 2010 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to imprisoned Chinese human rights activist Liu Xiaobo (1955–2017) "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China".^[1] The laureate, once an eminent scholar, was reportedly little-known inside the People's Republic of China (PRC) at the time of the award due to official censorship;^[2]^[3]^[4] he partook in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 and was a co-author of the Charter 08 manifesto, for which he was sentenced to 11 years in prison on 25 December 2009. Liu, who was backed by former Czech president Václav Havel and anti-apartheid activist and cleric Desmond Tutu, also a Nobel Peace Prize winner, received the award among a record field of more than 200 nominees.

The decision, while widely praised by foreign intellectuals and politicians, was quickly condemned by the Chinese government and the state media. A number of countries, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, also denounced the award and what they regarded as interference in China's domestic affairs. Following the announcement, official censorship was applied within China—on the Internet, television and in print media. The government strongly denounced the award and summoned the Norwegian ambassador in Beijing to make a formal protest. The Chinese authorities arrested citizens who attempted to celebrate. Liu's wife was put under house arrest before the decision of the Nobel Committee was announced.

Chinese diplomats moved to pressure other countries not to attend the award ceremony, which was scheduled for 10 December. The diplomatic missions of democratic countries in Oslo received warning letters from their Chinese counterparts; the deputy foreign minister also warned countries of "the consequences".^[5] In December, the Chinese Foreign Ministry continued the rhetorical assault, stating "more than 100 countries and international organisations [had] expressed explicit support of China's position". In the end, 46 countries attended of the 65 invited (the People's Republic of China and 19 other nations declined invitations). China's official news agency, Xinhua, attacked the West for its "Cold-War or even colonial mentality" and for daring to "regard themselves as the judge, the teacher [who] assume that they can forever distort the fact and block the truth by using political maneuvers."^[6] Strong rhetoric and denunciations of the West continued from official sources until after the ceremony.

Liu was the first person of Chinese nationality to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize^[7] and the first to be awarded a Nobel Prize of any kind while residing in China.^{[n 1]} Liu was the third person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while in prison or detention after Germany's Carl von Ossietzky (1935) and Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi (1991).^[9] As the laureate was absent, Liu's place on the podium was unoccupied; Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann read I Have No Enemies, an essay that Liu had written for his trial in December 2009, in place of the acceptance speech.

^ Cite error: The named reference NPP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Sautman, Barry; Yan, Hairong (15 December 2010). "The Chinese dissident has praised the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan – and said China should be fully westernised". The Guardian. Archived 2 December 2011.
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^ Cite error: The named reference The Age: China furious at Nobel's 'violation' was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Lovell, Julia (9 October 2010). "Beijing values the Nobels. That's why this hurts". The Independent. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
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[guardian20101215-2] Sautman, Barry; Yan, Hairong (15 December 2010). "The Chinese dissident has praised the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan – and said China should be fully westernised". The Guardian. Archived 2 December 2011.

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[8] Lovell, Julia (9 October 2010). "Beijing values the Nobels. That's why this hurts". The Independent. Retrieved 9 October 2010.

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