By Phuntsok Yangchen
DHARAMSHALA, May 30: The National Endowment for Democracy, US Congress funded non-profit organization, yesterday honored Liu Xiaobo and Xu Zhiyong, Chinese human rights activists currently in Chinese jail, with the Democracy Award 2014.
The National Endowment for Democracy said it is proud to honor Liu Xiaobo and Xu Zhiyong – both locked in Chinese prisons because the “regime views the power of their ideas as an existential challenge.”
“Despite this brutal crackdown, and 25 years of harsh repression since, brave Chinese voices continue to call for democracy and human rights,” said NED on its website.
Liu Xiaobo, currently serving an eleven year sentence for “incitement to subvert state power” in connection with his role in initiating Charter 08, a widely circulated petition calling for more civil rights in China and an end to the Communist Party’s political dominance. The document was subsequently signed by some 10,000 people intellectuals, lawyers, journalists, writers, scholars, artists including Tibetan writer Woeser. In 2010, Liu became the first Chinese to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
Xu Zhiyong, sentenced to four years’ imprisonment in January this year, is a Chinese rights advocate and a former law lecturer who has been outspoken in support of the Tibetan people. He founded the Beijing-based think tank, “Gongmeng” or Open Constitution Initiative, which conducted an independent investigation into the Uprisings on the Tibetan plateau in 2008.
Xu also wrote an opinion piece titled “Tibet Is Burning” in the New York Times in December 2012. Xu described his attempts to visit the family of a Tibetan self-immolation protestor named Nangdrol, in order to pay his respects. An excerpt from Xu’s article read, “I am sorry we Han Chinese have been silent as Nangdrol and his fellow Tibetans are dying for freedom. We are victims ourselves, living in estrangement, infighting, hatred and destruction.”
The award is given every year in recognition of the “courageous and creative work of individuals and organizations that have advanced the cause of human rights and democracy around the world.”
Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives accepted the award on behalf of Liu Xiaobo, and Hua Ze, a close friend of Xu Zhiyong and an active supporter of the New Citizens Movement, received the award on his behalf.
Frank Wolf, U.S. Representative was also presented with Democracy Service Medal 2014 in recognition of his significant contributions to the progress of democracy around the world. Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama was the recipient of the same medal in 2010.
