China is pressuring European Governments to avoid the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony for imprisoned democracy activist Liu Xiaobo and not make any statements in support of him, several diplomats said yesterday.
The Chinese Embassy in Oslo had sent official letters to a number of European embassies in the Norwegian capital asking them not to attend the December 10 ceremony, two Western diplomats said.
According to one of the Beijing diplomats, who said he had seen the letter, China cited its repeated position that Liu is a criminal for his advocacy of widespread political reforms and called the prize an interference in China’s internal affairs.
The letter also urged embassies not to issue any public statements in support of Liu on the day of the ceremony, he said.
Finland and Iceland confirmed their embassies in Oslo had received a letter in which China expressed its views on Liu receiving the prize, and Sweden said it had received a letter from China but declined to disclose its contents.
The ambassadors of Denmark and the Netherlands did not comment on the letter, but said they would attend the ceremony.
Germany said it had received verbal information about the issue at its embassy in Oslo, but said its representative would nonetheless attend.
Liu, a writer and outspoken critic of the Government, is serving an 11-year prison term for inciting subversion with Charter 08, a bold call for sweeping political reforms that he co-authored. His wife has been under house arrest since the award was announced last month.
Numerous world leaders, including President Barack Obama, as well as international rights groups have called for Liu’s release. That has enraged China, which has been waging a campaign through state media to criticise both Liu and the prize.
In Beijing in the past couple of weeks, diplomats from several countries had been called in to meetings with Chinese officials, who made similar requests to the letters issued to the embassies in Oslo, said the first Western diplomat.
“They have been quietly getting in touch, inviting people to small meetings and passing the message that way,” the diplomat said.
A second Western diplomat confirmed the letter. Another diplomat from a European country said his country had not been asked to avoid the event, but he was aware of several other nations that had been approached.
All three diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity.
A fourth diplomat in Oslo said the letter received by his embassy did not specifically mention the Nobel ceremony, but urged diplomats to “refrain from attending any activity directed against China”. The diplomat, who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss the matter publicly, said the phrasing might have been different in letters sent to other embassies.
Finnish Ambassador to Norway Maimo Henriksson said the Chinese letter did not mention the award ceremony and “was much more general in nature”. She conceded, though, that the letter had expressed displeasure at the award to Liu. Henriksson said she would represent Finland at the ceremony.
A spokeswoman for Germany’s Foreign Ministry said the charge d’affaires in Oslo traditionally attended the awards ceremony and saw “no reason to depart from this longtime policy”.
A British Foreign Office statement said “the Chinese have raised the issue with us”. The statement said the British Ambassador to Norway normally attended the ceremony and intended to this year as well.
Geir Lundestad, the secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, declined to comment on the Chinese letter, but said it was up to the ambassadors to decide whether to attend the ceremony.
He said more than 1000 invitations had been sent out, including to all ambassadors to Norway. Even the Chinese ambassador received one, he said, but returned it without answering.
