An imprisoned Chinese struggler for human rights received the Nobel Peace Prize early Friday, creating tensions between China and the West.

"Liu Xiaobo is a convicted criminal who broke Chinese law," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said in a statement published to the ministry's website. "If the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to such a person, it absolutely disobeyed the spirit of this prize and it is a blasphemy to the prize."

The 54-year-old Xiaobo has been a leader in the nonviolent fight for human rights in China. He's in jail for 11 years, stemming from a conviction for subverting state powers.

"Liu has become the foremost symbol for this wide-ranging struggle," Norwegian Nobel Committee Chairman Thorbjoern Jagland said.