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China cracks down on activists ahead of Liu Xiaobo Nobel prize ceremony

10 December 2010 03:02 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. China today launched its most prolonged and severe crackdown on activists and dissidents in recent years ahead of tomorrow’s Nobel peace prize ceremony honouring the jailed writer Liu Xiaobo, APA reports quoting guardian.co.uk website.
Scores â€“ perhaps hundreds â€“ of people have been placed under house arrest or surveillance, had communications cut off and been forced to leave the capital or prevented from travelling abroad. While such tactics are common before important events such as political meetings, it is rare for pressure to last so long and be applied so extensively. Amnesty International said it believed more than 250 people are affected.
"The scale and intensity are unprecedented. It is an attempt to prevent any voice supporting this prize coming from China," Nicholas Bequelin, the Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch, said.
"Activists feel this is worse than before the Olympics or sensitive anniversaries," Wang Songlian, of the Chinese Human Rights Defenders network, said.
However, she added: "There is still a sense of jubilation... Morale in general is high because they feel they are on the right track and have been recognized internationally."
Beijing is furious at the decision to award the prize to Liu, who is serving 11 years for co-authoring Charter 08, a bold call for democratic reforms.
The authorities have placed his wife, Liu Xia, and other supporters under house arrest and have barred other activists from leaving the country, apparently for fear they will attend the event.
As only close family members can collect the prize on a winner’s behalf, the traditional gold medal will not be handed over at tomorrow’s ceremony in Oslo, where a symbolic empty chair will be the focal point on the stage.
"Liu Xiaobo was not convicted because of his remarks," Jiang Yu, a foreign ministry spokeswoman, said today.
"Liu wrote and published inflammatory articles on the internet, organising and persuading others to sign it, to stir up and overthrow China’s political authority and social system ... it was an act that jeopardised society."
She attacked a US congressional resolution calling for Liu’s release as "meddling in China’s internal affairs".
A fresh spate of newspaper articles attacked the decision to give the prize to the 54-year-old writer. The official Xinhua news agency wrote in an English language commentary today that the award had prompted "a new round of China-bashing".
According to a detailed record compiled by Chinese activists, a dozen people were detained for celebrating on the night of the announcement of the Nobel prize two months ago. Three of those were then sentenced to eight days detention.
Others were detained, though later released, for distributing leaflets about the jailed winner.
Liu’s wife was under house arrest before the announcement and had all communications cut off shortly after telling her husband he had won.
Numerous others are thought to have been removed from their homes in Beijing and driven hundreds of miles back to their home towns.
But in a mark of activists’ defiance, Zhang Zuhua â€“ another Charter 08 drafter who has been in "soft detention" and had communications cut off on Tuesday â€“ issued a statement defending the document and Liu.
"We must not slacken in our fight against tyranny ... as long as there is slavery, dictatorship and political persecution, we will never stop fighting."
He warned that social conflict was escalating and that, without reforms, China risked another revolution.
While restrictions on most of those affected are likely to ease after the ceremony, there are fears that some could face retribution.
"We are very concerned about the possibility of targeted retaliation against specific activists ... after the spotlight moves elsewhere, Beijing might be tempted to make examples," Bequelin said.
The government also appears to have blocked the websites of the BBC, CNN and Norway’s state broadcaster ahead of the Oslo event. The BBC said traffic from China had fallen off sharply.
The Times also reported that police had ordered bars, restaurants and cafes in Beijing to turn down reservations from parties of more than six people from today until Saturday and watch out for attempts to celebrate the award.
Outside the country, China has warned diplomats in Oslo of "consequences" if they attend the ceremony, and 18 other countries have turned down invitations. But the Nobel organisers said two-thirds of those invited would attend.
Amnesty International alleged that members of Norway’s Chinese community were being pressured by diplomats to attend anti-Nobel protests.
But both Chinese and overseas campaigners suggested the government crackdown had backfired.
"The government’s very public tantrum has generated even more critical attention inside and outside China â€“ and, ironically, emphasised the significance of Liu Xiaobo’s message of respect for human rights," Salil Shetty, the secretary general of Amnesty International, said in a statement.
The Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi expressed solidarity with Liu and told the BBC that although her award had angered the Burmese government, it had heartened her supporters and gained international attention.
"It helped our movement, and especially it helped the activists abroad," she said.
Liao Yiwu, one of Liu’s closest friends, said he was happy despite being under house arrest.
"Liu Xiaobo winning the Nobel prize is a fact now. They are angry, but there is nothing they can do to change the fact," he said.