As promised, here's an update on the progression of the Liu Xiaobo affair since our group presentation on November 9. According to the New York Times, Beijing is continuing its campaign to get other countries to boycott the Nobel ceremony on Dec 10. So far, Russia, Iraq, Cuba, Venezuela, the United Arab Emirates and Kazakhstan have announced their plans to boycott the ceremony, while 36 others (including the US, Canada and all EU member countries) have announced that they would attend. Predictably, the two lists reflect liberal with a strong commitment to human rights on one said, and autocratic regimes with a strong commitment to national sovereignty (ie the right of states to abuse human rights) on the other.
While the Nobel Committee says that there will definitely be a ceremony, it is unclear whether anyone will be able to accept the reward since it is customarily only given to the recipient or to a close family member. The last time that the prize was awarded to someone who was in prison, Aung Sang Suu Kyi's son accepted the award and delivered remarks on her behalf. Liu Xiaobo's wife, Liu Xia, remains under house arrest and his brothers are incommunicado due to the heavy surveillance to which they are subjected. The Chinese government is preventing Liu sympathizers from leaving the country, presumably fearing that they might be headed for Oslo, and there is no way that that they would let any of the Liu family exit the country.
That reminds me of the conversation I had over skype with my American friend who lives in Beijing. When I asked what the local reaction was surrounding the news about Liu’s Nobel Peace Prize, she said she didn’t know about it for several weeks, and only eventually heard about it through one of our other American friends. She had recently installed new software (?) that now allows her to access the websites normally blocked by the Chinese government, such as Facebook and YouTube. We discussed the differing perceptions of censorship in China and the outside world. Having lived in Beijing for some time, limited access to media has become normalized, so she does not feel restricted nor give much thought to what other news and perspectives are available elsewhere. What is most striking to me is how effective strategic control of information is in shaping the worldview of the populace. The expression “knowledge is power” is not only a cliché`, but is increasingly true in the information society that we live in.
ReplyDeleteI am very surprised to know that there are still other countries refuse to show up in the ceremony except China and i guess they have their own reasons.
ReplyDeleteBesides Liu Xiaobo, there are other two Chinese guys who were also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Both of them are humen rights fighters in different areas just like Liu Xiaobo. However, giving the prize to anyone of the three will bring up arguement for sure, but the arguement about Liu Xiaobo will be relatively lighter than the other two. There is little info about those two people, and I am really curious about their bio.
Most of the countries Natalie mentioned in this article are notorious for their anti-west sentiments. Like Skylar, I'm sure they all have their own reasons, but it wouldn't surprise me if they're doing it just for the symbolism. After all, they're all rather famous for crushing political dissidents under the ruling regime, so it might seem hypocritical for them to be doing anything that could be seen as 'approving' of the award.
ReplyDeleteThe one that surprises me though is Iraq (presuming that's not a typo, and you didn't mean Iran) My only guess is that perhaps they want to be seen as encouraging the stability of sovereign governments. There's likely some economic soft power correlation at work too; I'm sure China has encouraged some, if not a lot of innovation in that country has it does notably in Africa.
It is very sad to see my own country being like this. It is true that the situation is getting better and there are some human rights movements. but under the strict government control, it is impossible to make any improvement. And all these intellectuals are being prosecuted. For China what is more important than its own people?
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