By Emily Lau



One of Hong Kong's most outspoken and popular politicians, Emily Lau represents the Democratic Party.

HONG KONG – Members of the Democratic Party recently gathered in a Kowloon restaurant to celebrate the party's 16th anniversary. Our members and guests felt jubilant at news that the Nobel Committee had awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo, a celebrated Chinese dissident-intellectual serving 11 years in prison for “inciting subversion of state power”.

For people campaigning for democracy and human rights in China, the Nobel Committee's decision gave a powerful shot in the arm. Liu's selfless efforts to advance human rights, notably writing and promoting Chater 08, wins respect and admiration. Charter 08 is a manifesto of the Chinese people's aspirations for constitutional democracy, freedom, human rights and equality. It also represents the common aspirations of mankind.

Since the Beijing Massacre on June 4, 1989, Liu repeatedly has been imprisoned for expressing his views. Even in prison, he stands firm as a symbol of the people's will and conscience.

The Nobel Prize will be presented to Liu or his representative in Oslo on December 10, the International Human Rights Day. But it looks highly unlikely that he will be released from prison to travel to Norway and receive it.

In fact, when the news broke, Beijing reacted with anger, dismay and an information blackout. Coverage in the official Chinese-language media was muted. That's ironic because a Nobel Prize carries much weight in China. Many people wanted to see a Chinese national get the award.

But this time the Nobel Committee's decision was the last thing the Chinese authorities wanted. They also placed Liu's wife, Madam Liu Xia, under house arrest. No reason was given for such barbaric treatment. It is sheer lawlessness.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman said that awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to “a criminal” amounted to encouraging crimes and violated China’s judicial sovereignty. He accused the Nobel Committee of bias and said Western governments have no right to interfere in China's affairs. In echo, the English-language state media accused the West of waging endless ideological wars against China to hamper its growth and press it to surrender more economic interests.

Such an astounding siege mentality shows an utter lack of confidence. In Hong Kong, Beijing's concern is not widely shared. Many people are pleased to see Liu honored. If the Chinese government releases him from prison and allows him to travel to receive the award, it will present a positive image of a tolerant, liberal regime. Alas, it probably won't happen.

Responding to Beijing's condemnation, Norwegian Nobel Committee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland said that China has every reason for pride in its achievements of recent decades: “We want to see that progress continue, and that is why we awarded the Peace Prize to Mr Liu. If China is to advance in harmony with other countries and become a key partner in upholding the values of the world community, it must grant freedom of expression to all its citizens.”

Jagland called the Chinese authorities wrong to say no one has a right to interfere in China's internal affairs. International human-rights laws and standards are above nation-states, and the world community must ensure they are respected. As the world moved from nationalism to internationalism, the fundamental rights of all people became defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which said that nation-states no longer hold ultimate and unlimited power.

Universal human rights provide a check on arbitrary majorities, whether democracies or not, Jagland said. Although China isn't a democracy, it is a United Nations member that amended its constitution to comply with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Jagland referred to Liu's imprisonment as clear proof that China's criminal law fails to match its constitution. Liu was convicted of “spreading rumors or slander or any other means to subvert the state power or overthrow the socialist system”. In a world community based on universal human rights, governments have no task to stamp out opinions and rumors. They must ensure the right to free expression – even if the speakers advocate a different social system. It's tragic when a man sits in prison merely for expressing his opinions.

A few days before the Nobel Prize announcement, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao sang the virtues of free speech to CNN. “I believe that freedom of speech is indispensable for any country, and freedom of speech has been incorporated into the Chinese constitution,” he said. “I often say that we should not only let people have freedom of speech, but that we, more importantly, must create conditions to let them criticize the work of the government.”

Judging by Liu's predicament, such conditions don't exist on the Chinese mainland. If the premier is true to his words, he has much more work to do.

To show that the premier is not a lone voice, two dozen retired officials, academics and Chinese Communist Party elders signed an open letter to the leadership of the National People's Congress arguing for greater press freedoms. They cited a mismatch between the right to freedom of the press (enshrined in the constitution) and the restrictions crudely enforced in practice. They said this amounts to a “false democracy”, a “scandalous mark on the history of world democracy”.