BEIJING, Oct 9, 2010 (AFP) - Chinese state media on Saturday slammed the Nobel committee's decision to award the prestigious peace prize to jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo, as human rights defenders celebrated the new laureate.
As the activist community hailed the decision as giving some hope for other Chinese dissidents, police detained dozens of Liu's supporters as they gathered to toast his award on Friday night, a Hong Kong-based rights network said.
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| Liu Xiaobo |
“While some have gathered in small groups to celebrate the momentous occasion, approximately several dozen of Liu's supporters, primarily activists and dissidents, have been ... taken into detention,” Chinese Human Rights Defenders said in an email.The award was condemned by state media, with the Global Times saying the Nobel committee had “disgraced itself” and suggesting the peace prize had been “degraded to a political tool that serves an anti-China purpose”.
“The Nobel committee once again displayed its arrogance and prejudice against a country that has made the most remarkable economic and social progress in the past three decades,” an editorial said, referring to the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader who won the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize.
“Neither of the two are among those who made contributions to China's peace and growth in recent decades,” the English-language daily said.
News that Liu -- who Beijing has repeatedly branded a criminal following his December 2009 jailing for 11 years on subversion charges -- had been awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize was reported in Chinese-language state media, but only through the government's angry reaction to the decision. |
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