Nobel Peace Prize Winner's Empty Seat

By Douglas V. Gibbs

The crowd's applause fell on an empty chair. A photograph of Lui Xiaobo was projected onto a wall. For the first time since 1935, the winner, or any representative on his behalf, was not present for the ceremony. Last time this happened it was because Carl von Ossietzky was being held in a Nazi death camp, and Adolf Hitler forbade any sympathizers from attending the ceremony. This time it happened it was because Liu Xiaobo is being held in a Chinese prison, and the Chinese government has forbade him, or any representatives, to attend the ceremony.

The crimes for both recipients are the same: Daring to stand up for freedom against a centralized governmental system.

As the Chinese government sought to silence the Chinese writer and dissident, his words has reached the world anyway. During the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony a recitation of Mr. Liu's defiant, yet gentle, statement to a Chinese court before his incarceration last year was given center stage.

Liu's history as a campaigner for liberty in China goes all the way back to the confrontations between students and police in Tiananmen Square. He was detained two years ago after co-writing a call for human rights and reform in China, serving an eleven year sentence for sedition. For his nonviolent struggles against the oppressive centralized government in China, and expressing opinions on how his country should be governed in the face of threats by the government, the Nobel Committee chose Mr. Liu to receive this award.

For once, a wise choice by the Nobel Committee.

Through his wife, Mr. Liu sent word that he wanted to dedicate the award to the “lost souls” massacred in 1989 in Tiananmen Square.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

Winner's Chair Remains Empty At Nobel Event - New York Times

Chinese Nobel Peace Prize Winner In The Dark - Political Pistachio