The 2010 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to imprisoned Chinese human rights activist (1955–2017) "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China". The laureate, once an eminent scholar, was reportedly little-known inside the People's Republic of China (PRC) at the time of the award due to official censorship;Sautman, Barry; Yan, Hairong (15 December 2010). "The Chinese dissident has praised the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan – and said China should be fully westernised". The Guardian. Archived 2 December 2011. he partook in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 and was a co-author of the Charter 08 manifesto, for which he was sentenced to 11 years in prison on 25 December 2009. Liu, who was backed by former Czech president Václav Havel and anti-apartheid activist and cleric Desmond Tutu, also a Nobel Peace Prize winner, received the award among a record field of more than 200 nominees.
The decision, while widely praised by foreign intellectuals and politicians, was quickly condemned by the Chinese government and the state media. A number of countries, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, also denounced the award and what they regarded as interference in China's domestic affairs. Following the announcement, official censorship was applied within China—on the Internet, television and in print media. The government strongly denounced the award and summoned the Norwegian ambassador in Beijing to make a formal protest. The Chinese authorities arrested citizens who attempted to celebrate. Liu's wife was put under house arrest before the decision of the Nobel Committee was announced.
Chinese diplomats moved to pressure other countries not to attend the award ceremony, which was scheduled for 10 December. The diplomatic missions of democratic countries in Oslo received warning letters from their Chinese counterparts; the deputy foreign minister also warned countries of "the consequences". In December, the Chinese Foreign Ministry continued the rhetorical assault, stating "more than 100 countries and international organisations [had] expressed explicit support of China's position". In the end, 46 countries attended of the 65 invited (the People's Republic of China and 19 other nations declined invitations). China's official news agency, Xinhua, attacked the West for its "Cold-War or even colonial mentality" and for daring to "regard themselves as the judge, the teacher [who] assume that they can forever distort the fact and block the truth by using political maneuvers." Strong rhetoric and denunciations of the West continued from official sources until after the ceremony.
Liu was the first person of Chinese nationality to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and the first to be awarded a Nobel Prize of any kind while residing in China. Liu was the third person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while in prison or detention after Germany's Carl von Ossietzky (1935) and Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi (1991). As the laureate was absent, Liu's place on the podium was unoccupied; Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann read I Have No Enemies, an essay that Liu had written for his trial in December 2009, in place of the acceptance speech.
Nomination and announcement The Nobel Committee disclosed there were a record number of nominations in 2010—a total of 237, of which 38 were organisations. Although the committee has a policy of keeping nominations confidential for 50 years, some nominators made announcements.MacDougall, Ian (2 February 2010). "2010 Nobel Peace Prize Nominees: Chinese, Russian Activists Nominated". HuffPost. Retrieved 23 August 2011. Among the nominees were Russian human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina, the International Space Station, the Internet and its three founders Larry Roberts, Vint Cerf and Tim Berners-Lee. Also on the list were Chinese dissidents Liu Xiaobo, Hu Jia, Gao Zhisheng, Chen Guangcheng, Bao Tong, and Rebiya Kadeer.Deshayes, Pierre-Henry (10 March 2010). "China critics, Net founders among record 237 Nobel contenders". Agence France-Presse. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
Liu was nominated by International PEN, the worldwide association of writers.Appiah, Kwame Anthony (8 October 2010). "Why I Nominated Liu Xiaobo". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2 July 2011.Greene, Richard Allen (7 October 2010). "Who will win this year's Nobel Peace Prize?". CNN. Retrieved 7 October 2010. Interested in Western philosophy, Liu made his reputation as a literary critic with a treatise on the state of modern Chinese literature: an article he published in 1986 that criticised Chinese writers for their dependence on the state, and their deficit in free-thinking, caused a stir in the Chinese literary world. His challenging ideas caught the attention of the intellectuals; he lectured all over China and abroad. He was in New York when the 1989 pro-democracy movement erupted in China; he returned immediately to China and spent most of his time amongst the protesters in Tiananmen Square.Béja, Jean-Philippe (9 December 2010). "Liu Xiaobo: Living in truth and paying the price". Amnesty International. Retrieved 12 November 2011."Liu Xiaobo : The Man Against Communist Rule In China" . Emagazin. (undated) Retrieved 17 November 2011. This, and his subsequent leadership role in the Charter 08 pro-democracy manifesto for China, led the Chinese authorities to censor his views as subversive. Liu was jailed for 11 years on 25 December 2009, for "inciting subversion of state power"."Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo jailed for subversion". BBC. 25 December 2009. Retrieved 23 August 2011. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said "It would be completely wrong for the Nobel Prize committee to award the prize to [Liu]". In January 2010, Václav Havel and others—including the 14th Dalai Lama, André Glucksmann, Vartan Gregorian, New Zealand politician Mike Moore, Karel Schwarzenberg, Desmond Tutu and Grigory Yavlinsky—published an article endorsing Liu.Havel, Václav et al. (18 January 2010). "A Chinese champion of peace and freedom". Project Syndicate. Retrieved 10 June 2011. A professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Xu Youyu, and others, addressed an open letter "to the European People" in support of Liu,Rogers, Simon (8 October 2010). "Nobel peace prize winners list 2010: how does Liu Xiaobo compare to previous medal holders?". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 September 2011.Xu Youyu (29 September 2010). . Euractiv. Retrieved 23 August 2011. while 14 exiled dissidents urged the Nobel Committee to pass over Liu's nomination, arguing that Liu had maligned other dissidents, forsaken the oppressed Falun Gong and that his stance against the Chinese leadership had become too "soft".MacKinnon, Mark (9 October 2010). "Jailed dissident's Nobel Peace Prize infuriates China". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 9 October 2010.Jacobs, Andrew; Ansfield, Jonathan (6 October 2010). "Unusual Opposition to a Favorite for Nobel". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
Agence France-Presse reported that at a June meeting convened by the Chinese embassy in Oslo, Vice Foreign Minister Fu Ying warned the Nobel Institute director and secretary of the Nobel Committee, Geir Lundestad, that giving the prize to Liu Xiaobo would be seen as an "unfriendly gesture""Nobel panel told to forget activist" . The Standard. Agence France-Presse. 29 September 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2011. that would have negative consequences for relations between Oslo and Beijing.Ramzy, Austin (8 October 2010). "Chinese Dissident Liu Xiaobo Wins Nobel Peace Prize". Time. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
On 7 October 2010, Norwegian television networks reported that Liu Xiaobo was the front-running candidate for the Prize.Fouche, Gwladys (7 October 2010). "China's Liu leads Kohl, EU in Peace Nobel race: TV". Reuters. Retrieved 8 October 2010. Irish bookmaker Paddy Power paid out two days before the announcement following an increase in bets. Shortly before the announcement, Liu's wife, Liu Xia, declined telephone interviews, saying the police were at her home. Her telephone went unanswered once the announcement was made.Garnaut, John (9 October 2010). "China furious at Nobel's 'violation'". The Age. Retrieved 9 October 2010. Nobel Committee chairman Thorbjørn Jagland made the announcement on 8 October 2010 in Oslo, mentioning that the choice of Liu had become clear early in the process."Nobel Peace Prize awarded to China dissident Liu Xiaobo". BBC News. 8 October 2010. Retrieved 8 October 2010. The monetary component of the prize would be 10 million Swedish kronor (US$1.5 million)."China's Liu Xiaobo wins Nobel Peace Prize". Bangkok Post. Agence France-Presse. 8 October 2010. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
At 2 pm on the day of announcement, a crowd of about 100 journalists, supporters, and friends who had gathered outside the main entrance to the Beijing housing estate where the Lius resided were denied entry. The South China Morning Post reported that policemen stationed inside their apartment at the time of the announcement prevented Liu Xia from meeting with journalists and other well-wishers. It was not immediately clear whether Liu Xiaobo was aware of the award. By that time, Liu Xia said she had been told she would be taken to Liaoning to see her husband in prison.Staff reporter (9 October 2010). "A winner on the world stage, but does he really know it?". South China Morning Post. Meetings and gatherings to celebrate in several cities were prevented or abruptly broken up by police;Stack, Megan K. (10 October 2010). "Chinese media stay resolutely silent on Nobel winner". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 10 October 2010. one such celebration dinner in Beijing, attended by 20 people, was broken up by police, and the attendees were detained.Jacobs, Andrew (9 October 2010). "China, Angered by Peace Prize, Blocks Celebration". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
Reactions in Greater China
Chinese media The Chinese media avoided the story of Liu's Peace Prize, in marked contrast with their previous announcements of other recipients of Nobel Prizes. The official Xinhua News Agency downplayed all but the literature prize, and most other mainland news portals followed the Xinhua lead; popular internet portals such as Sina.com and NetEase deleted pages dedicated to stories related to all five Nobel Prizes.Clem, Will; Staff reporters (9 October 2010). "News filters through despite censorship". South China Morning Post. "State-owned China Central Television's flagship 7 pm news broadcast made no mention of the Nobel Peace Prize award, a change from the programme's policy in preceding days of announcing other Nobel winners among the day's top headlines. There was also no mention of Liu on the Xinhua homepage. The only references to the Nobel Prizes on the site's opening page referred to the literature award, while a search of the website only brought up a short report about a foreign ministry spokesman denouncing Liu's selection—filed under international news. Most other mainland news portals, including Sina and NetEase, deleted pages dedicated to stories related to the five Nobel Prizes." According to a well-informed Twitter user, cited by the China Media Project at the University of Hong Kong, the State Council Information Office issued a directive immediately after the announcement that "Liu Xiaobo" and "Peace Prize" would be prohibited search terms for microblog services across the country; fora, blogs and other interactive media were forbidden from releasing any information.'Bei Feng' (11 October 2010). "Viewing the Liu Xiaobo response through Twitter" . Journalism and Media Studies Centre (University of Hong Kong). Retrieved 10 June 2011."New Directives from the Ministry of Truth". China Digital Times. 8 October 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2011. At 6 pm, the source said that although the official news release had been issued, all media were ordered by the Central Propaganda Department not to publish it.