Beijing refuses to release Liu

Dec 10, 2010 |

Correspondent

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Liu Xiaobo

Dec. 9: China will not yield to outside pressure on jailed Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Mr Liu Xiaobo, the foreign ministry said on Thursday, striking a combative tone the day before the award is due to be formally bestowed.

A spokeswoman, Ms Jiang Yu, denounced what she said were “double standards” applied to China’s legal system, and criticised the US House of Representatives for calling on China to release Mr Liu and his wife, Ms Liu Xia, who is under house arrest.

Responding to Mr Liu’s getting the Nobel peace Prize, China on Thursday gave the “Confucius Peace Prize” to former Taiwan vice-president, Mr Lien Chan, though his office said he was unaware of the award and did not show up to collect it.

Ms Jiang said any attempts to press China for Mr Liu’s and his wife’s release, and to “deter China from its development”, would not succeed.

“The US Congress’ so-called resolution distorts the truth, it is widely meddling in China’s internal affairs,” she said.

Mr Liu was jailed on Christmas Day in 2009 for subversion of state power and for being the lead author of Charter 08, a manifesto by intellectuals and activists calling for democratic reform in the one-party state. Ms Jiang again defended China’s jailing of Mr Liu.

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