Liu Xiaobo Must be Released Now! Human Rights Must be Restored in China!            Zhang Kai

In 2008, Liu Xiaobo drafted Charter 2008 which urged for China’s political reform, democracy, freedom and human rights and was signed by twelve thousand people. Later he was sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment, in the words of the sentence, "incitement to the overthrow of the state power and socialist system and the people’s democratic dictatorship." Liu fought for democracy through peaceful means, but the bureaucracy repressed the dissident voices in order that their political and economic privileges remain intact. This shows that Liu is deprived of rights of freedom of speech and publication which are stated in China’s Constitution. Two years ago, the author wrote an article on Liu, entitled “60 Years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and China’s Human Rights Status” (October Review, No 225). After Liu was imprisoned for two years, the Nobel Committee decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize 2010 to him. It not only recognizes his struggle but also protests again China’s repression. The deputy minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of PRC went to Norway to intervene, but failed. The Chinese authorities angrily opposed that the award signified an interference with China’s domestic affairs. Several hostile gestures came afterwards: Liu Xia, Liu’s wife, was forbidden to attend the award ceremony; dissident figures like Ding Zilin and her husband were under surveillance, and restaurants were not allowed to serve a table more than six clients. Furthermore, China prevented other countries from going to attend the ceremony. The award ceremony was held as scheduled. An empty chair was placed on the stage, and the Committee was responsible for keeping the prize, medal and money. As Ye Du, a writer, described, it “will lead to further fermentation of China’s democratic movement”. According to the history of the Nobel Peace Prize, there were at least four similar cases: in 1935, the Committee gave the award to Carl von Ossietzky who opposed Hitler. In 1975, in Moscow, Andrej Sakharov was prevented from receiving the award in person. The same thing happened to Lech Walesa in 1983. The Burmese authorities did not allow Aung San Suu Kyi to receive the Peace Prize in 1991.

          On 5 Dec, in Hong Kong, 11 social groups declared a joint statement signed by 48 groups and more than one thousand individuals. On the newspaper, they urged for a demonstration: “Liu Xiaobo should be released! Human rights must be restored in China!” They made five claims: (1) we support the rights of Chinese citizens to promote Charter 2008! (2) We support Liu Xiao to receive the Nobel Peace prize (3) we request that the Chinese government must release Liu Xiaobo unconditionally. (4) we are concerned that the freedom of Liu Xia and other human rights defenders was limited after the award ceremony, so we request the Chinese authorities to cancel the surveillance measures; (5) we are concerned that all civilians have human rights and freedom that are guaranteed by the Constitution, so we request the Chinese authorities to release all political prisoners unconditionally. We think that the Chinese authorities should immediately release the dissidents in prison (such as Hu Jia) and human rights lawyers like Zhao Lianhai. Their human rights and freedom must be restored The Nobel Peace Prize is certainly related to the diplomacy and the ideology of the western powers, so that the Left should take a critical distance from it. However, Liu being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize is also a criticism of Chinese authorities; hence it can be an encouragement for the development of the democratic movement in China.                                                                                                                                                                               26 Dec 2010