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China warns West envoys off Nobel ceremony
[Bangla Daily Star] China has warned other countries against attending the award ceremony in Oslo for Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo, diplomats said yesterday, in the latest sign of Beijing's irritation at the Norwegian Nobel Committee's pick this year.Diplomats from several countries said China's embassy in Oslo had sent letters to Western missions implicitly cautioning them not to attend the prize ceremony on December 10 in the Norwegian capital. The decision to award the prize to Liu, a veteran Chinese dissident currently serving an 11-year prison sentence for subversion against the state, has enraged the Communist government in Beijing. In Beijing, Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said governments would have to "take responsibility for the consequences" if they showed support for Liu, according to Dow Jones Newswires. China has said the honour awarded last month was tantamount to "encouraging crime." Norway-based ambassadors are traditionally invited to attend the ceremony in Oslo city hall along with royalty and other stars, and the Chinese warnings do not appear to have dissuaded many of them from attending. "We have received a letter which explains the Chinese position and which asks us not to do anything which could destabilise China," Olof Huldtgren, the deputy head of mission at the Swedish embassy in Oslo, told AFP. "It does not explicitly say don't participate in the Nobel ceremony, but reading between the lines, the message is clear." Posted by: Fred 2010-11-06 |
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