You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
International-UN-NGOs
Obama leads calls for Liu Xiaobo's release
2010-10-09
WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama led international calls Friday for the release of jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, after the veteran democracy campaigner was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. Obama, last year’s Nobel peace laureate, joined European powers in condemning China’s human rights record, and criticised Beijing for failing to match economic growth with political reform.
Good. That's the right thing to do.
“The Nobel Committee has chosen someone who has been an eloquent and courageous spokesman for the advance of universal values through peaceful and non-violent means, including his support for democracy, human rights, and the rule of law,” Obama said in a written statement hours after the announcement by the Norwegian committee.

While China had made dramatic progress in economic reform in the past 30 years, “this award reminds us that political reform has not kept pace,” said Obama, who called on the Chinese government to release Liu as soon as possible.

Liu was sentenced last December to 11 years behind bars for subversion, following the 2008 release of “Charter 08”, a manifesto for reform signed by more than 300 Chinese intellectuals, academics and writers.

As Beijing fumed that the Norwegian committee had “violated” the integrity of its award, a string of criticism from the US and Europe and calls for Liu’s release did little to soothe its anger.

“This decision embodies the defence of human rights everywhere in the world,” said France’s Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. “France, like the European Union, expressed its concern after his arrest and has called for him to be released on a number of occasions. She repeats that call.”

There was a similar response from the German government.

“The (German) government would like to see him released soon and receive his prize in person,” spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters. “The government has pressed for his release in the past and will continue to do so.”

The award, news of which was widely blocked in China, was hailed as recognition of “a very prominent human rights defender” by the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay.

“We welcome this recognition of the very important role human rights defenders play in China and in many other countries, as well as the challenges they face,” said Pillay. “Advocates like Liu Xiaobo can make an important contribution to China’s development,” she said.
Posted by:Steve White

00:00