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China: Liu's Nobel Peace Prize was 'Blasphemy'

by VOA News

   A Chinese official said the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to
   dissident Liu Xiaobo in 2010 was "blasphemy."

   Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Friday, "Conferring the
   prize to such a person goes against the purposes of this award. It's a
   blasphemy of the peace prize."

   Liu, China's best-known human rights prisoner, died Thursday at age 61
   following a high-profile battle with liver cancer that made his death
   as controversial as his life.

   The Nobel Peace Prize laureate who spent his last eight years as a
   prisoner of conscience died at a hospital in Shenyang, China, where he
   had been moved from his prison cell in the final stage of his illness.
   The judicial bureau in Shenyang announced the cause of death as
   "multiple organ failure."

   "China has lost a deeply principled role model who deserved our respect
   and adulation, not the prison sentences to which he was subjected,"
   said U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad.

   The leader of the Norwegian Nobel committee said the Chinese government
   bore a "heavy responsibility" for his death. "We find it deeply
   disturbing that Liu Xiaobo was not transferred to a facility where he
   could receive adequate medical treatment before he became terminally
   ill," said Berit Reiss-Andersen. "The Chinese Government bears a heavy
   responsibility for his premature death," she said in an emailed
   statement.

   Reiss-Andersen said Friday that China denied her visa application to
   attend Liu's funeral.

   "I was told that my visa application was incorrectly filled in ...
   because I did not have an invitation from the person I was visiting,"
   Berit Reiss-Andersen told Reuters.

   "When I told them I would be attending a funeral and that the person
   had passed away, I was told I should try a relative."

   China has lodged complaints against Germany, France, the United States
   and the United Nations human rights high commissioner over criticism
   about the handling of Liu's death.

   Foreign ministry spokesman Geng blasted "certain countries" for
   interfering in China's "judicial sovereignty."

   "China is a country under the rule of law. The handling of Liu Xiaobo's
   case belongs to China's internal affairs, and foreign countries are in
   no position to make improper remarks," Geng said.

   The ruling Communist Party newspaper said Liu lived a "tragic life."
   The Global Times said, "Lui's last days were politicized by the forces
   overseas. They used Liu's illness as a tool to boost their image and
   demonize China."

   U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has called for China to release
   Liu's widow from house arrest. "I call on the Chinese government to
   release Liu Xia from house arrest and allow her to depart China,
   according to her wishes."

   "Even as Liu Xiaobo's illness worsened, the Chinese government
   continued to isolate him and his family, and denied him freely choosing
   his medical treatment," said Sophie Richardson, China director of Human
   Rights Watch. "The Chinese government's arrogance, cruelty, and
   callousness are shocking - but Liu's struggle for a rights-respecting
   Democratic China will live on."