No Chinese At the Nobel Awards- What a Pity

Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Prize but cannot pick it up, he’s under the lock and key of China’s ruling communist party. I wont say much about the actual award, its not the point, but how telling is it of China to keep even this guy’s family from attending the ceremonies. Read the excerpt below: “OSLO, Norway – Only one of about 140 Chinese activists invited by the wife of jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo has confirmed he will attend the prize ceremony in Oslo, according to an organizer of the guest list. Others have been stopped from leaving China or placed under tight surveillance amid a crackdown on dissenters following the prize announcement, several activists told The Associated Press. Nobel officials said last week that none of Liu’s relatives were expected to travel to Oslo to collect the prize on Liu’s behalf. But his wife, Liu Xia, had invited scores of activists and luminaries to attend the Dec. 10 ceremony in an open letter posted online. Wan Yanhai, who fled to the United States in May after increasing official harassment of his AIDS advocacy group, is the only person on that list to confirm his attendance. “I heard many people on the list were put on a blacklist and were not allowed, or their family members not even allowed, to leave China. It’s a horrible situation,” Wan told AP by phone Wednesday from Philadelphia, where he lives.”