A press statement issued by the Chinese embassy in Kathmandu on Friday said Xiaobo is a convicted criminal who is serving a prison sentence for breaching Chinese law. “[break]
Ignoring China´s firm objection, the Norwegian Noble Committee for the first time awarded the prize to a convicted criminal serving a sentence,” said the statement.
China said this year´s Noble Peace Prize stands only for the interests of some western countries as those supporting the peace prize are primarily western countries. Over 100 countries and organizations support China´s stance of the opposing the Peace Prize this year. “… it can in no way represent the developing countries. It is all political,” the statement further read.
The statement lauds the progress made by the country in terms of economic growth and raising the living standards of 230 million people in the past three decades. It also said that China boasts of having the world´s biggest number of internet users and the second biggest number of publications.
“As to whether China´s human rights conditions have improved, the Chinese people know it better than anyone else. When it comes to how to promote human rights and what the key issues are, the Chinese people understand it the best,” read the statement.
The statement added that the Liu Xiaobo issue has nothing to do with promoting and protecting human rights or freedom of speech. “Rather, it is about how one views China´s political system, whether one respects China´s judicial sovereignty and how one perceives China´s reform,” it said.
“We welcome constructive criticism. Even for the misplaced criticism, we will listen to it and see where we can improve. But it would not be acceptable should one criticize China for the purpose of undermining its stability or hindering its development,” the statement added.
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