20101015 Nobel Peace Prize a call for change in China

Nobel Peace Prize a call for change in China

By Cao Changqing 曹長青

Chinese writer and dissident Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波) was recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize — the first time the award went to a Chinese national. This drew protests from Chinese officials as well as international attention because the recipient is an imprisoned Chinese activist.

While some Chinese dissidents think that Liu is not qualified to receive the award, the general consensus seems to be that it was a brave choice by the Norwegian Nobel Committee and that it would arouse global interest in China’s atrocious human rights record while encouraging people in China to fight for freedom.

Before the decision was made, Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Zhai Jun (翟雋) warned the Norwegian Nobel Committee face-to-face about what would happen if it gave the award to a Chinese dissident. However, the committee did not show any fear or back down.

We can pretty much say that online discussions in the West show what most people there think. Many of the comments said it was laughable that US President Barack Obama received the prize last year, and that this year’s decision to give it to a Chinese dissident was the right choice.

Along with its economic and military rise in recent years, China has expanded its dominance internationally while also imposing increasingly strict policies on its own citizens. Many leaders of pro-democracy movements have been imprisoned, as have many Christians and Falun Gong practitioners. Reports from some human rights organizations state that over the last decade, more than 100,000 Falun Gong practitioners have been locked up in labor camps and more than 3,000 have been tortured to death.

Liu was sentenced last year to 11 years in jail for writing six online articles. That equates to approximately two years of prison time per article.

With an eye on China’s vast market, many leaders in the West have failed to effectively speak out against China’s suppression of human rights. Sanctions have not been imposed on China, and Beijing is able to get away with whatever it wants.

The fact that the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to a Chinese dissident this time around is a blow to the Chinese regime. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) reaction has been a mixture of embarrassment, anger and fear, and it has tried everything possible to block news of the prize in the country.

However, there have also been reports that many people inside China have been letting off fireworks and celebrating the event. So, this is cause for worry for the CCP, but a happy occasion for the Chinese people.

In announcing the recipient of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, the Nobel Committee stated: “China is in breach of several international agreements to which it is a signatory, as well as of its own provisions concerning political rights ... The campaign to establish universal human rights also in China is being waged by many Chinese, both in China itself and abroad.”

Through the severe punishment meted out to him, Liu has become the foremost symbol of this wide-ranging struggle for human rights in China.”

This is almost tantamount to saying that giving the prize to Liu is a form of moral support to the whole human rights movement in China.

This year’s Nobel Peace Prize has been like a beam of light — it has been a source of trouble for Beijing and allowed people around the world to see its darker side, while at the same time encouraging China’s democracy movement.

Cao Changqing is a freelance writer based in the US.