Awarding the Nobel peace prize to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo would contradict its founding principles, China's foreign ministry said today.Read the rest here.
Its comments came after the director of Norway's Nobel Institute, Geir Lundestad, said a senior Chinese official had warned him that giving the author the award would affect relations between the two countries.
"This person was sentenced to jail because he violated Chinese law," the foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a news briefing in Beijing.
"His actions are diametrically opposed to the aims of the Nobel prize. Mr Nobel's behest was that the Nobel peace prize be awarded to somebody who promoted peace between peoples, promoted international friendship and disarmament."
Earlier, Lundestad said China's deputy foreign minister, Fu Ying, delivered the warning in a meeting at the Chinese embassy during her visit to Oslo this summer.
"[Such a decision] would pull the wrong strings in relations between Norway and China, it would be seen as an unfriendly act," Lundestad told Norwegian news agency NTB.
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3 comments:
Does the Nobel Peace Prize still have any credibility left, after the bizarre and blatantly politicized awards to Gore and Obama?
John, You inspired me to go read a list of the recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize. One can infer a bit of a bias in recent decades. [sardonic smiley]
Francis, Not in my mind.
Bill, tGf
In later years I've completely ignored the Nobel peace prize winners. It's an empty honor. (And yes, Gore and Obama tie for the head that list.)
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