Tomorrow’s Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo will be filled with empty chairs. The most striking absentee will be this year’s winner, Liu Xiaobo, who is in jail in China for subversion after co-authoring Charter 08, a book that calls for peaceful reform of China’s one-party political system. The table assigned to friends and family will be empyt too, as Xiaobo’s wife, Liu Xia, was placed under house arrest shortly after the awards announcement.
Also absent will be ambassadors from the 18 countries who have rejected their invitations: Pakistan, Iran, Sudan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Colombia, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Iraq, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Venezuela, the Philippines, Egypt, Ukraine, Cuba and Morocco have all discovered prior commitments. A Russian spokesman for the Oslo embassy said: “It is not politically motivated . . . we do not feel we are pressured by China.”
Yet despite early claims from the Chinese foreign ministry that “at present, more than 100 countries and organisations have expressed explicit support for China opposing the Nobel peace prize, which fully shows that the international community does not accept the decision of the Nobel committee”, 44 countries will nevertheless be in attendance.
After initial dithering, Europe will be fully represented at the ceremony. “France is always represented by its ambassador to Norway at the Nobel Prize ceremony in Oslo. This tradition will continue this year,” said foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero.
Political spokespeople have been less cagey in Hong Kong, where there have been marches in support of the release of Liu Xiaobo. Lee Cheuk-yan, member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, last week said: “The Chinese government is still very much oppressing the rights of Liu Xiaobo, his wife and other dissidents in China. China’s international image will be damaged if it doesn’t release Liu and his wife.”
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