PrintChina Calls Nobel Prize Ceremony a 'Farce'
Ever since the October announcement that the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize would go to Liu Xiaobo, Chinese officials, the state-controlled media, and "patriotic" bloggers have condemned the Norwegian Nobel Committee for honoring a "criminal" and "traitor." The pro-democracy activist was sentenced in December 2009 to 11 years in prison for subversion after co-authoring the "Charter 08" manifesto calling for non-violent political reform and broader human rights in China. At today's award ceremony in Oslo, Liu will be represented by an empty chair, while actress Liv Ullmann does a reading from his writings.
Today's editorial in the Chinese Communist Party newspaper Global Times continues the assault on Western values that are seen as a threat to the Beijing regime.
A farce that puts China on trial is underway in Oslo. This is not the first time that the Norwegian Nobel Committee has judged a country's politics by its own ideological standards. Even more bizarrely, a Chinese criminal named Liu Xiaobo is being honored today at a grand award ceremony in Europe.On Dec. 9, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu claimed, "The Nobel Committee must admit it is in the minority. The Chinese people and a majority of countries and people in the world all oppose what they have done." Beijing organized an 18-nation boycott of the Oslo ceremony. The list comprises China, Pakistan, Iran, Sudan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Colombia, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Philippines, Egypt, Ukraine, Cuba and Morocco. The list speaks for itself as to the "moral" content of its protest.
It's unimaginable that such a farce, the like of which is more commonly seen in cults, is being staged on the civilized continent of Europe....
In a world characterized by competition, estrangement and an uncertain future, perhaps the Nobel Committee will always be able to find a way to attack China....
Since the Cold War era, the Nobel Committee has sought supporters for the Western hemisphere's universal values, and rebuked regimes that do not fall in line with Western standards. The politicization of the Nobel Peace Prize has long been criticized....Many developing countries refuse to attend today's ceremony, the best indication of the unexpected moral support China has won around the world.
The Global Times editorial concludes, "Today's award ceremony is not an end, but rather a real beginning of another trial: A trial by history against the Nobel Committee." And by extension, a trial of history between China and the West.
