Nobel Peace Prize Awarded To Chinese Activist
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.