Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The Norwegian Nobel Committee hopes Chinese authorities will allow the wife of imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo to travel to Oslo and accept the award on his behalf. Ms Liu Xia is currently under house arrest since her husband, a university professor and co-author of pro-democracy Charter 08, won the prestigious award.
“This situation has not been resolved as of today, but we have not given up entirely on the possibility of his wife coming,” committee secretary Geir Lundestad told reporters on Tuesday.
If she cannot attend the December 10 award ceremony, only a representative who has been duly authorised by the couple can collect the US$ 1.5 million award.
If no such representative is found, Lundestad said the event would take place anyway, “but it may be that at the ceremony there will no handing over of the diploma and the medal as there normally is.”
In the meantime, Beijing is trying to belittle the event. The government has asked Western nations not to send representatives to the award ceremony and to stop pro-Liu activists and dissidents from travelling to Oslo to celebrate his victory.
So far, this strategy has not entirely worked. As dissidents are arrested in China, many European Union member states have announced that they would send diplomatic representatives to the event.
France rejected China’s request. French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said France's ambassador always attends the ceremony and the “tradition will continue this year.”
Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands have also confirmed that they would be represented by their ambassador.