China brands Nobel Peace laureate Xiaobo ‘a criminal’

The Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo has brought the wrath of China, who has branded Xiaobo as a “criminal”.

9 October 2010, 12:00am

1 min read

The Beijing government has summoned the Norwegian ambassador in protest. It branded the Nobel Peace Prize winner a "criminal".

The Chinese Government claimed the award “violated Nobel principles” and could damage relations with Norway.

In awarding the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010, the Norwegian Nobel committee highlighted Xiaobo’s role as "the foremost symbol" of the struggle for human rights in China.

United States (US) President Barack Obama has called for the Nobel Peace laureate’s immediate release.

"We call on the Chinese government to release Xiaobo as soon as possible," Obama, last year's Nobel Peace Prize winner, said in a statement.

"Over the last 30 years, China has made dramatic progress in economic reform and improving the lives of its people, lifting hundreds of millions out of poverty,” he acknowledged.

"But this award reminds us that political reform has not kept pace, and that the basic human rights of every man, woman and child must be respected," Obama insisted.

Other Western countries had also urged China to release Xiaobo.