On Oct. 8, long-time Chinese pro-democracy activist and dissident Liu Xiaobo, whose name is unknown to many people both inside and outside China, was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. Liu was honored “for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.” He is currently serving an 11-year term in prison on subversion charges for actively participating in the writing of Charter 08, a manifesto calling for basic human rights such as freedom of speech, religion and assembly, as well as demanding political reform and democratization to end the Communist Party’s political dominance in China.
Unfortunately, the majority of Chinese people still do not know what Charter 08 is about since it has been censored on the Chinese search engine — www.baidu.com — and banned from a variety of media outlets, including online forums and social networks all controlled by the Chinese government.
Despite global recognition of the Nobel Peace Prize as a prestigious award, the official mouthpiece of the Chinese government tells a different version of the story: that giving the Nobel Peace Prize to a criminal is an intentionally biased decision driven by Western propaganda with the purpose of rebuking the Chinese government.
Thus, although it does not make much sense to people living in a democratic society, the recognition is a humiliation to Chinese people. The Chinese government has criticized the Nobel Peace Prize committee for politicizing the award and using it to advocate Western ideology ever since the exiled Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, won the prize in 1989. This time, Ma Xhaoxu, China’s foreign ministry spokesman, has also issued a strongly worded statement saying the decision “desecrated the prize” and “runs counter to the principles and aims of the Nobel Peace Prize.”
But what are the aims of the Nobel Peace Prize? This question reminds me of last year, when the selection of President Barack Obama prompted criticisms that the decision was premature since he had been in office for less than a year and had few concrete accomplishments.
However, I have been convinced there could not have been a better idea than hailing the vision of a more peaceful world and the embrace of multilateral diplomacy by the president of the United States, the world’s chief superpower. It was a welcoming signal for a new, friendlier world order.
This year, I am thrilled again, not only because Liu is such a fearless fighter who deserves the prize but also because, once again, the Nobel Committee has delivered hope to those who need it most — this time, 1.3 billion Chinese, who constitute the world’s second largest economy but have been unable to access Charter 08 and the civil rights promoted by it.
Yes, the aim of the Nobel Peace Prize is to provide insight to lead us toward a better world and provide a new sense of hope. Bravo!
Chong Huang is a graduate geography student. He can be reached at qhuang at umd dot edu.
