History of China

China's Reluctant Emperor

2011-09-08T02:32:00.000+02:00

By SHELIA MELVIN

A photograph of the hall in the Forbidden City where Wan Li held his morning audiences until he suspended them.

A portrait of Wan Li, who reigned for 48 years (1572-1620).

BEIJING — The Emperor Wan Li was the longest-reigning monarch of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), an era considered by some historians to have been one of the most prosperous in human history.
Wan Li ascended the Dragon Throne when he was only 9, but was diligently tutored in history, ritual and statecraft by a minister named Zhang Juzheng.
Ensconced in the Forbidden City, he lived a coddled life, doted on by his mother, waited upon by legions of eunuchs and served by multitudes of women, among them his empress (whom he married at 14), a principal consort, associate consorts and hosts of ordinary concubines.
But despite all this — or perhaps because of it — Wan Li was not a happy monarch.
On the contrary, he ultimately became so frustrated by the constraints of his office and the pieties of his officials that he went on strike against his own court.
For nearly three decades of his 48-year reign (1572-1620), Wan Li refused to read petitions and memorandums sent to him, replace officials who retired or died or even attend his own morning audiences.

A hat belonging to the emperor adorned with jewel-studded gold dragons.His officials held these audiences anyway, rising before dawn every third day, assembling outside the Gate of Brightening Administration — only to enter the throne room and kowtow to an empty chair.
“It was a strange era,” acknowledged Zhang Wenyong, curator of “Retrospect of the Ming Dynasty: Experiencing the Period of Wan Li,” which runs at the Capital Museum through Feb. 12.
“But, while people know what Wan Li did, they don’t understand the reasons. We need to look anew at Wan Li and his reign.”
The exhibition tackles the conundrum of Wan Li head-on in a thought-provoking examination of both the emperor and his era.
It includes more than 200 objects from the collections of Capital Museum and Dingling Museum (Wan Li’s tomb), accompanied by extensive historical background material (some of it in English).

Works on show at the Capital Museum include the emperor's ceremonial robe, which took 13 years to make.

A modern reproduction of the robe, which included 12 imperial symbols and the characters for "luck" and "longevity."

A photograph of Wan Li's tomb, which was badly excavated in 1956.

A Ming Dynasty bowl from the era of Wan Li.Divided into three sections, it starts by considering Wan Li’s decades-long suspension of his own audiences. In his early years Wan Li was deemed precocious; a copy of “A Primer of Emperors in History” that was compiled for his education is on display, as are some of the clothes he might have worn when he still went to work.

These include a spectacular black gauze hat adorned with jewel-studded gold dragons, a faded fragment of his yellow ceremonial robe — which took 13 years to make — and a stunning modern reproduction of the same garment.

The beginning of Wan Li’s decline is alluded to with a portrait of Zhang Juzheng, the minister who mentored him through the early years of his rule.

After Zhang died, it was revealed that, while lecturing Wan Li on frugality and responsibility, he himself had led a corrupt, dissolute life.

This betrayal seems to have left Wan Li wounded and cynical.

His alienation grew when it came time to designate an heir, who had to be chosen from the children of consorts since his empress did not bear a boy.

While his officials insisted on his oldest son — born of the consort Lady Wang — he instead chose his third son, born of Lady Zheng, the consort he truly loved.

The officials balked and a 15-year standoff ensued, the period in which his strike began.

Objects from the tomb of Lady Zheng and other consorts include a sublime white-glazedmeiping vase, jade buttons and pendants, and a pair of openwork gold hairpins embedded with rubies, sapphires, and pearls. The second section of the exhibition, entitled “A Dynamic Society,” explores the flourishing world outside the palace gates.

“Although politics was corrupt in the Wan Li period, society, economy, technology and culture had great achievements,” explained Mr. Zhang, the curator.

“This is a very important issue — you can’t say Wan Li promoted all this, but he didn’t prevent it.”

Indeed, the period was one of great creativity; works now deemed classic that were produced in this period include Li Shizhen’s “Compendium of Materia Medica,” Tang Xianzu’s “The Peony Pavilion,” Wu Chengen’s “Journey to the West,” and “The Golden Lotus,” attributed to “The Scoffing Scholar of Lanling.” Although only a few original artworks are displayed, the exhibition presents a good overview of the intellectual ferment through reproductions and biographies of the artists.

It also delves into Ming China’s burgeoning relationship with the West.

The renowned Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci (or Li Madou, as he is known in China) and his colleagues were the first Westerners allowed to reside in the Ming capital, beginning in 1601.

Although Wan Li would not break his strike to meet them or answer their letters, he nonetheless gave them an allowance and land for a church and a graveyard.

The exhibition includes copies of Ricci’s world map, the Chinese version of Euclid’s “Elements” (which Ricci translated with the high-ranking Catholic convert Xu Guangqi) and his book “The True Meaning of the Lord in Heaven,” which, according to Mr. Zhang, first introduced the concept of the seven-day week to China. Another example of China’s growing contact with the West is the blue and white porcelain first exported to Europe in the 30th year of Wan Li’s reign.

Known as kraak — apparently after the Portuguese ships, or carracks, that transported it — the porcelain became extremely popular.

The final section explores Wan Li’s tomb, known as Dingling, which he started constructing at age 20.

The massive underground complex — the biggest pieces of granite used were transported in carts pulled by 1600 mules each — included a “Mysterious Palace” in which Wan Li, the empress, and the mother of whoever was selected as his heir would be placed after their deaths, alongside objects like gold chopsticks; a shiny, cobalt blue icebox; and piles of gold and silver ingots.

They were to be waited upon by scores of doll-sized wooden eunuchs, whose pale faces and downcast eyes remind a modern viewer of zombies.

Because Wan Li finally gave in to his officials and chose his firstborn son as heir, it was Lady Wang who accompanied him in death rather than his beloved Lady Zheng.

His afterlife, indeed, proved ill-fated as his life — the 1956 excavation of his tomb was badly botched, with so many objects destroyed that China has never again authorized the opening of an imperial tomb.

During the Cultural Revolution, the skeletons of Wan Li, his empress, and Lady Wang were stolen by Red Guards and torched in a public bonfire.

Wan Li became generally known in Chinese history as an indolent hedonist whose ineffectiveness led directly to the fall of the Ming in 1644.

Somewhat kinder accounts — like Ray Huang’s masterful “1587, A Year of No Significance” — paint him as an intelligent, if weak-willed, man trapped in a bankrupt system.

But Mr. Zhang, the curator, hopes that the exhibition will help show that, though a flawed ruler, Wan Li presided over a flourishing society — and that, perhaps, it was precisely his detached style of ruling, combined with the government’s inability to interfere — that enabled this great prosperity.

Culture theft: Mongolia fights China's claim to th...

2011-08-13T13:54:00.000+02:00

Chính's news: Culture theft: Mongolia fights China's claim to th...: "Why a move by China has Mongolian throat-singing teacher angry. By Andrew Higgins ULAN BATOR, Mongolia — For nearly 20 years, Odsuren Ba..."

Ai Weiwei

2011-04-22T16:08:00.001+02:00

Ai Weiwei 艾未未

Born	28 August 1957 (age 53) Beijing, China
Nationality	Chinese
Works	Sunflower Seeds

Ài Wèiwèi (born 28 August 1957) is a Chinese artist and activist, who is also active in architecture, curating, photography, film, and social and cultural criticism.^[1]^[2]

Ai collaborated with Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron as the artistic consultant on the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Olympics.^[3]

In addition to showing his art he has investigated government corruption and cover-ups.

He was particularly focused at exposing an alleged corruption scandal in the construction of Sichuan schools that collapsed during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

He intensively uses the internet to communicate with people all over China, especially the young generation.^[4]

On 3 April 2011 police detained him at Beijing airport.

His studio in the capital was sealed off, and his staff interrogated pursuant to official allegations of "economic crimes".

On 20 April Ai was appointed Visiting Professor of the University of the Arts in Berlin.^[5]

Life and work

Ai Weiwei's father was Chinese poet Ai Qing, who was denounced during the Anti-Rightist Movement and in 1958 sent to a labour camp in Xinjiang with his wife, Gao Ying.^[6]

Ai Weiwei was one year old at the time and lived in Shihezi for 16 years.

In 1975 the family returned to Beijing.^[7]

Ai Weiwei is married to artist Lu Qing.^[6]

In 1978, Ai enrolled in the Beijing Film Academy and attended school with Chinese directors Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou.^[8]

In 1978, he was one of the founders of the early avant garde art group the "Stars", together with Ma Desheng, Wang Keping, Huang Rui, Li Shuang, Zhong Acheng and Qu Leilei.

The group disbanded in 1983.^[9] Yet Ai Weiwei participated in regular Stars group shows,The Stars: Ten Years, 1989 (Hanart Gallery, Hong-Hong and Taipei), and a retrospective exhibition in Beijing in 2007:Origin Point (Today Art Museum, Beijing).

From 1981 to 1993, he lived in the United States, mostly in New York, creating conceptual art by altering readymade objects.^[9]

While in New York, he studied at Parsons School of Design.^[10]

In 1993, Ai returned to China because his father became ill.^[11]

Back in Beijing, he helped establish the experimental artists' Beijing East Village and published a series of three books about this new generation of artists: Black Cover Book (1994), White Cover Book (1995), and Gray Cover Book (1997).^[12]

Ai Weiwei is co-founder and Artistic Director of China Art Archives & Warehouse (CAAW), founded in 1997, Beijing.

It is a contemporary art archive and experimental gallery that concentrates on experimental art from the People's Republic of China, initiates and facilitates exhibitions and other forms of introductions inside and outside China.^[13] T

he building is designed by Ai Weiwei.

In 1999, Ai moved to Caochangdi, in the northeast of Beijing, and built a studio house, his first architectural project.

Since he was getting more involved with architecture, he founded the architecture studio FAKE Design, in 2003.^[14]

In 2000, he co-curated the art exhibition Fuck Off with curator Feng Boyi in Shanghai, China.^[15]

Ai Weiwei and HHF Architects designed a private residence in upstate New York in 2006.

According to the New York Times, the residence, completed in 2008, is "extraordinarily refined" and designed to incorporate a large, contemporary Chinese art collection.^[16]^[17]

In 2010, Wallpaper magazine nominated the home for its Wallpaper Design Awards category: Best New Private House.^[18]

On 15 March 2010 he took part in Digital Activism in China: A discussion between Ai Weiwei, Jack Dorsey (founder of Twitter) and Richard MacManus, hosted by The Paley Media Center in New York.^[19]

Exhibitions

Ai's artwork has been exhibited in China, Japan, Korea, Australia, United Kingdom, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, Israel, Brazil and the United States.

Ai Weiwei’s work was included in the 48th Venice Biennale in Italy (1999), 1st Guangzhou Triennale in China (2002), 1st Monpellier Biennial of Chinese Contemporary Art in France (2005), The 2nd Guangzhou Triennial (2005), Busan Biennialin Korea (2006), The 5th Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art in Australia (2006), Documenta 12 in Germany (2007), Liverpool Biennial International 08 in the United Kingdom (2008), 2010 Venice Architecture Biennale and the 29th Sao Paulo Biennial in Brazil (2010).

Fairytale is the title of Ai Weiwei's contribution for Documenta 12 in 2007.

For this project Ai Weiwei brought 1001 people from all over China to a small town in Germany called Kassel.

They were chosen through an open invitation he posted on his blog.^[20]

Ai even designed clothes, luggage and a temporary home in an old textile factory.

He let them wander around the city during the exhibition time of three months.

The participants were divided into five groups that each stayed in Kassel for eight days.

According to Philip Tinari the primary design object here is not the clothing or suitcases but the participants' experiences, even their spirits.^[14]

During the exhibition his monumental outdoor sculpture titled Template, made of wooden doors and windows from destroyed Ming and Qing Dynasty houses (1368–1911), collapsed after a storm.^[21]

The Beijing National Stadium at night during the 2008 Summer Olympics

Ai's 'indecent' self-portrait snub to the Party apparatus. 草泥马挡中央: the six characters possessed of a double meaning in Chinese but may be interpreted as: "F. . k your mother, the Communist party central committee".^[62]

In 2008 he curated the architecture project Ordos 100 in Ordos City, Inner Mongolia.

He invited 100 architects from all over the world (29 countries) to participate in this project.^[22]

Ai curated the exhibition The State of Things, together with Belgian artist Luc Tuymans.

It was shown at the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels from 18 October 2009 to 10 January 2010 and at the National Art Museum in Beijing from 1–30 May 2010.^[23]

From October 2009 to January 2010 Ai Weiwei exhibited So Sorry at Haus der Kunst in Munich, Germany.

This solo exhibition showed Ai Weiwei’s largest retrospective to date.^[24]

The title refers to the thousands of apologies expressed recently by governments, industries, and financial corporations worldwide in an effort to make up for tragedies and wrongdoings – though often withhout shouldering the consequences or the desire to acknowledge let alone repair.

Saying sorry – or not saying it – is in the headlines everywhere and thus also in China.^[25]

For this show Ai Weiwei created the installation Remembering on Haus der Kunst's façade.

It was made out of 9000 children's backpacks.

They spell out the sentence 'She lived happily for seven years in this world' in Chinese characters.

This is a quote from a mother whose child died in the Sichuan earthquake in 2008.

Ai Weiwei said: "The idea to use backpacks came from my visit to Sichuan after the earthquake in May 2008. During the earthquake many schools collapsed. Thousands of young students lost their lives, and you could see bags and study material everywhere. Then you realize individual life, media, and the lives of the students are serving very different purposes. The lives of the students disappeared within the state propaganda, and very soon everybody will forget everything."^[26]

One tiger eight breasts, Ai's disputed artwork ^[63

Ai's artwork (in foreground), "Zodiac Heads (Circle of Animals), 2010", which references the famous historical Yuanmingyuan zodiac heads.

On 25 July 2009 Ai Weiwei opened his solo show According to What? at Tokyo's Mori Art Museum, Japan.

This exhibition presented 26 works, most made over the past decade.^[27]

In December 2009, Ai Weiwei had a small exhibition at the Comme des Garcons store in Hong Kong.^[28]

From March to September 2010, Ai exhibited Barely Something, an exhibition curated by Roger M. Buergel, the director of Documenta12, at the Museum DKM in Duisburg, Germany.^[29]

In October 2010, Sunflower Seeds was installed at the Tate Modern Turbine Hall, London.

The work consists of one hundred million porcelain "seeds," each individually hand-painted in the town of Jingdezhen by 1,600 Chinese artisans, and scattered over a large area of the exhibition hall.^[30]

The artist was keen for visitors to walk across and roll in the work to experience and contemplate the essence of his comment on mass consumption, Chinese industry, famine and collective work.

However, on 16 October, Tate Modern stopped people from walking on the exhibit due to health liability concerns over the porcelain dust.^[31]

In February 2011, a 220-pound (100 kg) pile from Sunflower Seeds sold for $559,394 (well above its high estimate of $195,000) at Sotheby's in London, weeks after Ai Weiwei's studio was destroyed by the government.^[32]

Awards

In March 2010 Ai Weiwei received an Honorary Doctorate Degree from the Faculty of Politics and Social Science, University of Gent, Belgium.^[33]

In September 2010 he received Das Glas der Vernunft (The Prism of Reason), Kassel Citizen Award, Kassel, Germany.^[34]

Ai Weiwei was ranked 13 in ArtReview's guide to the 100 most powerful figures in contemporary art: Power 100, 2010.^[35]

Beijing National Stadium

Ai was commissioned as the artistic consultant for design, collaborating with the Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron, for the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Summer Olympics, also known as the "Bird's Nest."^[36]

Although ignored by the Chinese media, he had voiced his anti-Olympics views.^[2]

He later distanced himself from the project, saying, "I've already forgotten about it. I turn down all the demands to have photographs with it," saying it is part of a "pretend smile" of bad taste.^[37]^[38]

In August 2007 he also accused those choreographing the Olympic opening ceremony, including Steven Spielberg and Zhang Yimou, of failing to live up to their responsibility as artists.

Ai said "It's disgusting. I don't like anyone who shamelessly abuses their profession, who makes no moral judgment."^[39]

In February 2008, Spielberg withdrew from his role as advisor to the 2008 Summer Olympics.^[40]^[41]

When asked why he participated in the designing of the Bird's Nest, Ai replied "I did it because I love design."^[42]

Sichuan earthquake student casualties investigation

On 15 December 2008, Ai Weiwei supported an investigation into student casualties in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake started by another Chinese artist.

The investigation aimed to compile a list of students killed in the earthquake by 12 May 2009, the earthquake's first anniversary.^[43]

As of 14 April 2009, the list had accumulated 5,385 names.^[44]

Ai published the collected names as well as numerous articles documenting the investigation on his blog which was shut down by Chinese authorities in May 2009.^[45]

He also posted his list of names of schoolchildren who died on the wall of his office at FAKE Design in Beijing^[46]

Ai Weiwei suffered headaches and claimed he had difficulty concentrating on his work since returning from Chengdu in August 2009, where he was beaten by the police for trying to testify for Tan Zuoren, a fellow investigator of the shoddy construction and student casualties in the earthquake.

On 14 September 2009, Ai was diagnosed to be suffering internal bleeding in a hospital in Munich, Germany, and the doctor arranged for emergency brain surgery.^[47]

The cerebral hemorrhage is believed to be linked to the police attack.^[48]^[49]

According to the Financial Times, in an attempt to force Ai to leave the country, two accounts used by him had been hacked in a sophisticated attack on Google in China dubbed Operation Aurora, their contents read and copied; his bank accounts were investigated by state security agents who claimed he was under investigation for "unspecified suspected crimes".^[50]

Shanghai studio controversy

In November 2010, Ai was placed under house arrest by the Chinese police.

He said this was to prevent the planned party to mark the demolition of his newly built Shanghai studio from taking place.^[51]

The building was designed and built by Ai upon encouragement and persuasion from a "high official [from Shanghai]" as part of a new cultural area designated by Shanghai Municipal authorities; Ai would have used it as a studio and to teach architecture courses.

But now Ai has been accused of erecting the structure without the necessary planning permission and a demolition notice has been ordered, even though, Ai said, officials had been extremely enthusiastic, and the entire application and planning process was "under government supervision".

According to Ai, a number of artists were invited to build new studios in this area of Shanghai because officials wanted to create a cultural area.^[52]

On 3 November 2010 Ai said the government had informed him two months earlier that the newly completed studio would be knocked down because it was illegal.

Ai complained that this was unfair, as he was "the only one singled out to have my studio destroyed."

The Guardian reported Ai saying Shanghai municipal authorities were 'frustrated' by documentaries on subjects they considered sensitive:^[52] two of the better known ones featured Shanghai resident Feng Zhenghu, who lived in forced exile for three months in Narita Airport, Tokyo; another well known documentary focussed on Yang Jia, who murdered six Shanghai police officers.^[53]

In the end, the party took place without Weiwei's presence; his supporters feasted on river crab, an allusion to "harmony", and a euphemism used to jeer official censorship.

Ai was released from house arrest the next day.^[54]

Like other activists and intellectuals, Ai was prevented from leaving China in late 2010.

Ai suggested that the authorities wanted to prevent him from attending the ceremony in December 2010 to award the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to fellow dissident Liu Xiaobo.^[55]

Ai said that he had not been invited to the ceremony, and was attempting to travel to Korea for a meeting when he was told that he could not leave for reasons of national security.^[56]

In the evening of 11 January 2011, Ai's studio was demolished in a surprise move by the local government.^[57]^[58]

2011 arrest

South China Morning Post reports that Ai received at least two visits from the police, the last being on 31 March -- three days before his detention -- apparently with offers of membership to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

A staff member recalled that Ai had mentioned receiving the offer earlier, "[but Ai] didn't say if it was a membership of the CPPCC at the municipal or national level, how he responded or whether he accepted it or not."^[59]

On 24 February, amid an online campaign for Middle East-style protests in major Chinese cities by overseas dissidents, Ai posted on his Twitter account: "I didn’t care about jasmine at first, but people who are scared by jasmine sent out information about how harmful jasmine is often, which makes me realize that jasmine is what scares them the most. What a jasmine!"^[60]^[61]

On 3 April, Ai was arrested just before catching a flight to Hong Kong and his studio facilities were searched.^[64]

A police contingent of approximately 50 officers came to his studio, threw a cordon around it and searched the premises.

They took away laptops and the hard drive from the main computer; they detained Ai, eight staff members and Ai's wife, Lu Qing.

Police also visited the mother of Ai's two year-old son.^[65]

While state media originally reported on 6 April that Ai was arrested at the airport because "his departure procedures were incomplete,"^[66] the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on 7 April that Ai was arrested under investigation for alleged economic crimes.^[67]

Then, on 8 April, police returned to Ai's workshop to examine his financial affairs.^[68]

On 9 April, Ai's accountant, as well as studio partner Liu Zhenggang and driver Zhang Jingsong, disappeared^[69], while Ai's assistant Wen Tao has remained missing since Ai's arrest on 3 April.^[70]

Ai's wife said was summoned by Beijing Chaoyang district tax bureau, where she was interrogated about his studio's tax on 12 April.^[59]

Chinese police announced that Ai was under arrest for tax evasion, bigamy and spreading indecent images on the internet.^[71]

[edit]Response to Ai's arrest

Analysts and other activists said Ai had been widely thought to be untouchable, but Nicholas Bequelin from Human Rights Watch suggested that his arrest, calculated to send the message that no one would be immune, must have had the approval of someone in the top leadership.^[72]

International governments, human rights groups and art institutions, among others, have called for Ai's release, while Chinese officials have yet to notify Ai's family of his whereabouts.^[73]

State media started describing Wei as a 'deviant and a plagiarist' in early 2011.^[74]

The China Daily subsidiary, the Global Times editorial on 6 April 2011 attacked Wei, saying "Ai Weiwei likes to do something "others dare not do." He has been close to the red line of Chinese law. Objectively speaking, Chinese society does not have much experience in dealing with such persons. However, as long as Ai Weiwei continuously marches forward, he will inevitably touch the red line one day."^[75]

Two days later, the journal scorned Western media for questioning Ai's charge as a "catch-all crime", and denounced the use of his political activism as a "legal shield" against everyday crimes.

It said "Ai's detention is one of the many judicial cases handled in China every day. It is pure fantasy to conclude that Ai's case will be handled specially and unfairly."^[76]

Frank Ching expressed in the South China Morning Post that how the Global Times could radically shift its position from one day to the next was reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland.^[77]

Michael Sheridan of The Times suggested that Ai had offered himself to the authorities on a platter with some of his provocative art, particularly photographs of himself nude with only a 'horse' hiding his modesty – with a caption『草泥马挡中央』. The term possesses of a double meaning in Chinese: one possible interpretation was given by Sheridan as: "F..k your mother, the party central committee".^[78]

Ming Pao in Hong Kong reacted strongly to the state media's character attack on Ai, saying that authorities had employed “a chain of actions outside the law, doing further damage to an already weak system of laws, and to the overall image of the country.”^[74]

The United States and European Union protested Ai's detention.^[79]

The international arts community also mobilised petitions calling for the release of Ai: "1001 Chairs for Ai Weiwei" was organized by Creative Time of New York that calls for artists to bring chairs to Chinese embassies and consulates around the world on 17 April 2011, at 1 pm local time "to sit peacefully in support of the artist's immediate release."^[80]^[81]

Artists in Hong Kong,^[82] Germany^[82] and Taiwan demonstrated and called on Ai to be released.^[83]

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and the International Council of Museums, who organised petitions, said they had collected more than 90,000 signatures calling for the release of Ai Weiwei.^[84]

On 13 April 2011, a group of European intellectuals led by Václav Havel had issued an open letter to Wen Jiabao, condemning the arrest and demanding the immediate release of Ai Weiwei.

The signatories include Ivan Klima, Jiří Gruša, Jáchym Topol, Elfriede Jelinek, Adam Michnik, Adam Zagajewski, Helmuth Frauendorfer; Bei Lin (Chinese:贝岭), a Chinese poet in exile drafted and also signed the open letter.^[85]

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^ Ai Weiwei under house arrest, Guardian, 5 November 2010.
^ ^a ^b Branigan, Tania & Gabbatt, Adam (3 November 2010)."Ai Weiwei's Shanghai art studio to be demolished" The Guardian
^ Zheng Yi and Yang Ruoyu (7 April 2011) "Ai Weiwei investigated for economic crimes", Global Times.
^ "An update on Chinese dissent artist Ai Weiwei's latest protests". Asiapacificarts.usc.edu. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
^ China: 2 Intellectuals Barred From Leaving the Country,New York Times, 3 December 2010
^ China Nobel row: Artist Ai Weiwei stopped from leaving , BBC News, 3 December 2010
^ Chinese Authorities Raze an Artist’s Studio, nytimes.com,
^ China artist Ai Weiwei's Shanghai studio demolished, BBC Online, 12 January 2011
^ ^a ^b Staff reporter (13 April 2011). "Ai Weiwei offered CPPCC role before arrest, staff say", South China Morning Post
^ Richburg, Keith B. (3 April 2011)."Chinese artist Ai Weiwei arrested in latest government crackdown", Washington Post
^ Twitter (8 April 2011).http://twitter.com/aiww/status/40606428100177920
^ Sheridan, Michael (11 April 2011). "Ai Weiwei held for 'obscene' political art", The Times
^ http://www.nownews.com/2011/04/12/91-2703832.htm
^ "Chinese artist Ai Weiwei arrested in ongoing government crackdown".The Washington Post. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
^ "Ai Weiwei detained by Chinese police".
^ "Law will not concede before maverick". Global Times.
^ "Chinese artist Ai Weiwei held for 'economic crimes'". BBC. 7 April 2011.
^ "China omits Ai Weiwei references from transcript". BBC.
^ "Free Ai Weiwei". Free Ai Weiwei.
^ "Chinese Defend Detention of Artist on Grounds of ‘Economic Crimes’".The New York Times.
^ Branigan, Tania (14 April 2011). "Ai Weiwei confessing to crimes, says state-run newspaper", The Guardian
^ Clem, Will & Choi Chi-yuk (6 April 2011). "Beijing's silence an ominous signal", South China Morning Post
^ "Ai Weiwei's whereabouts still unknown". RTHK.
^ ^a ^b Bandurski, David (19 April 2011) "How state media used to report on Ai Weiwei", China Media Project, University of Hong Kong
^ "Law will not concede before maverick" Global Times, 6 April 2011
^ "Political activism cannot be a legal shield " Global Times, 8 April 2011
^ Ching, Frank (13 April 2011). "A case of nonsense", South China Morning Post op ed.
^ Sheridan, Michael (11 April 2011). "Ai Weiwei held for 'obscene' political art", The Times
^ Demick, Barbara (7 April 2011) [http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/07/world/la-fg-china-weiwei-20110408 "China accuses dissident artist Ai Weiwei of 'economic crimes',Los Angeles Times
^ Davis, Ben (18 April 2011). "'1,001 Chairs for Ai Weiwei' Protesters Wouldn't Stand For Chinese Oppression" ArtInfo.
^ Taylor, Kate (14 April 2011). "Arts Group Calls for Worldwide Sit-In for Ai Weiwei". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
^ ^a ^b "香港声援艾未未活动与警方发生摩擦". Deutsche Welle. 17 April 2011. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
^ Taipei art center calls for release of Ai Weiwei 15 April 2011
^ 'Culture Monster' blog (8 April 2011). LACMA, other museums demand release of Ai Weiwei in petition". Los Angeles Times
^ http://www.aboluowang.com/news/data/2011/0415/article_122854.html欧洲作家致温家宝联署签名信吁请释放艾未未

External links

Ai Weiwei's official site
News about Ai Weiwei on China Digital Times
Ai Weiwei interview from The New York Times, 4 August 2008
Ai Weiwei at Louis Lannoo Gallery
Review of Ai Weiwei's latest show by C.B.Liddell
Ai Weiwei (艾未未) on Citizenship and Freedom
Ai Weiwei: Sunflower Seeds at Tate Modern Turbine Hall, London Video 2010
Artistpage of Ai Weiwei on Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne
艾未未关于麦勒画廊, 北京-卢森
Ai Weiwei interview in New Statesman by John Sunyer , 12 October 2010.
Man in the News: Ai Weiwei in Financial Times by Jamil Anderlini and David Pilling, 12 November 2010.
Teehaus 2009
Ai Weiwei speaks at TED2011 via video including candid comments on his treatment by authorities
(Chinese)艾未未看香港：年輕一代在變　關心中國政治

Ai Weiwei's contribution to the Documenta 12 in Kassel 2007

Template (2007) after collapse

Sunflower Seeds, 2010

Ai Weiwei in May 2009 with his list of names of schoolchildren who died in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, posted on the wall of his Beijing office

Tate Modern in London, home to Ai's 'Sunflower Seeds' exhibition, put a large sign on their exterior that reads "Release Ai Weiwei"

Liu Xiaobo

2010-11-11T00:42:00.000+01:00

Liu Xiaobo

Born	28 December 1955 (age 54) Changchun, Jilin, People's Republic of China
Nationality	Chinese
Alma mater	Jilin University Beijing Normal University
Occupation	Writer, political commentator,human rights activist
Spouse	Liu Xia
Awards	Nobel Peace Prize 2010

Liu Xiaobo (born 28 December 1955) is a Chinese literary critic, professor, and human rights activist who called for democratic reforms and the end of one-party rule inChina.^[1]

He is currently incarcerated as a political prisoner in China.

He has served as President of the Independent Chinese PEN Center since 2003.

On 8 December 2008, Liu was detained in response to his participation with Charter 08.

He was formally arrested on 23 June 2009, on suspicion of "inciting subversion of state power."^[2]^[3]

He was tried on the same charges on 23 December 2009,^[4] and sentenced to eleven years' imprisonment and two years' deprivation of political rights on 25 December 2009.^[5]

During his 4th prison term, he was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, for "his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China."^[6]^[7]^[8]

Early life and education

Liu was born in Changchun, Jilin, in 1955 to an intellectual family.

From 1969 to 1973, he was taken by his father to the Horqin Right Front Banner of Inner Mongolia during the Down to the Countryside Movement.

At the age of 19, it was once again arranged for him to work in a village in Jilin province and later at a construction company.^[9]

He is married to Liu Xia, who lives in the couple's apartment in Beijing.

In 1976, he studied at Jilin University and obtained a B.A. degree in literature in 1982 and an M.A. degree in 1984 from Beijing Normal University.^[9]^[10]^[11]

After graduation, Liu joined the faculty at Beijing Normal University, where he also received a Ph.D. degree in 1988.

In the 1980s, his most important essays, Critique on Choices - Dialogue with Li Zehou and Aesthetics and Human Freedom earned him fame in the academic field.

The first essay criticised the philosophy of a prominent Chinese thinker, Li Zehou.

Between 1988 and 1989, he was a visiting scholar at several universities outside of China, including Columbia University, the University of Oslo and the University of Hawaii.

In a 1988 interview with Hong Kong's Liberation Monthly (now known as Open Magazine), Liu was asked what it would take for China to realize a true historical transformation.

He replied in this way: "(It would take) 300 years of colonialism. In 100 years of colonialism, Hong Kong has changed to what we see today. With China being so big, of course it would take 300 years of colonialism for it to be able to transform into how Hong Kong is today. I have my doubts as to whether 300 years would be enough."^[12]

Liu admitted in 2006 that the response was extemporaneous, although he did not intend to take it back.

The quote was nonetheless used against him.

He has commented, "Even today [in 2006], patriotic 'angry youth' still frequently use these words to paint me with 'treason."^[12]

During the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests he was in the United States but decided to go back to China to join the movement.

He was later named as one of the "Four junzis of Tiananmen Square" for persuading students to leave the square saving hundreds of lives.^[13]

Political protest in Hong Kong against the arrest of Liu Xiaobo during the Obama China visit.

Human rights activities

Liu Xiaobo is a human rights activist who is little-known inside China.

His writing is considered subversive by the Communist Party, and his name is censored.^[14]

He has called for democratic elections, advocated values of freedom, supported separation of powers and urged the governments to be accountable for its wrongdoings.^[15]

From 1989 until now, he has been sentenced to prison and labor education camp four times for his peaceful political activities, beginning with his participation in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

When he was not in prison, he was also constantly the subject of government monitoring and being put under house arrest in sensitive time.^[16]

In June 1989 right after the Tiananmen Square protest, Liu Xiaobo was detained in the maximum security Qincheng Prison, and convicted on charges of "counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement".^[5]

In October 1996, he was ordered to serve three years of re-education through labor on charges of "disturbing public order"^[5]^[17] for criticizing the Communist Party of China.^[18]

When he was released in 1999, it is reported^[16] that the government built a sentry station next to his home and his phone calls and internet connections were tapped.

In January 2005, following the death of former Chinese premier Zhao Ziyang, who showed sympathy to protesters of the student demonstration in 1989, Liu was immediately put under house arrest for two weeks before realizing the death of Zhao.^[19]

In 2004 when he started to write a Human Right Report of China at home, his computer, letters and documents were confiscated by the government.

He once said, "at Liu Xia (Liu's wife)'s birthday, her best friend brought two bottles of wines to (my home) but was blocked by the police to come. I ordered a [birthday] cake and the police also rejected the man who delivered the cake to us. I quarreled with them and the police said, "it is for the sake of your security. It has happened many bomb attacks in these days."^[16]

Those measures were loosened until 2007, when the Olympic Games were going to be held in China.^[16]

Liu's human rights work has received international recognition.

In 2004, Reporters Without Borders honored Liu's human rights work, awarding him the Fondation de France Prize as a defender of press freedom.^[20]

In 2007, Liu was briefly detained and questioned about articles he wrote which were published online on websites hosted outside Mainland China.

Prison terms for Liu Xiaobo^[21]

Prison term	Reason	Result
June 1989 – January 1991	Charged with spreading messages to instigate counterrevolutionary behavior.	Imprisoned in one of China's best-known maximum security prisons, Qincheng Prison, and discharged when he signed a "letter of repentance."
May 1995 – January 1996	Being involved in democracy and human rights movement and voicing publicly the need to redress government's wrongdoings in the student protest of 1989	Released after being jailed for six months.
October 1996 – October 1999	Charged with disturbing the social order	Jailed in a labor education camp for three years. In 1996, he married Liu Xia.
December 2009 – 2020	Charged with spreading a message to subvert the country and authority	Sentenced for 11 years and deprived of all political rights for two years. Currently imprisoned in JinzhouPrison in Liaoning Province.^[22]

Charter 08, arrest and trial

Conception and diffusion of the Charter

Political protest in Hong Kong

against the detention of Liu Xiaobo

Liu Xiaobo actively participated in the writing of Charter 08.

Then, along with more than three hundred Chinese citizens, he signed Charter 08, a manifesto released on the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (10 December 2008), written in the style of the Czechoslovak Charter 77 calling for greater freedom of expression, human rights, and for free elections.^[15]

As of September 2010, the Charter has collected over 10,000 signatures from Chinese of various walks of life.^[23]^[24]

Arrest

Late in the evening of 8 December 2008, two days before the official release of the Charter, Liu Xiaobo was taken away from his home by police.^[25]

Another scholar and Charter 08 signatory, Zhang Zuhua, was also taken away by police at that time.

According to Zhang, the two were detained on suspicion of gathering signatures to the Charter.^[26]

While Liu was detained, in solitary confinement,^[27] he was not allowed to meet with his lawyer or family, though he was allowed to eat lunch with his wife, Liu Xia, and two policemen on New Year's Day 2009.^[28]

On 23 June 2009, the Beijing procuratorate approved Liu Xiaobo's arrest on charges of "suspicion of inciting subversion of state power," a crime under article 105 of China's Criminal Law.^[29]

In a Xinhua news release announcing Liu's arrest, the Beijing Public Security Bureau alleged that Liu had incited the subversion of state power and the overturn of the socialist system through methods such as spreading rumors and slander, citing almost verbatim Article 105; the Beijing PSB also noted that Liu had "fully confessed."^[3]

Trial

On 1 December 2009, Beijing police transferred Liu's case to the procuratorate for investigation and processing;^[4] on 10 December, the procuratorate formally indicted Liu on charges of "inciting subversion of state power" under and sent his lawyers, Shang Baojun and Ding Xikui, the indictment document.^[4]

He was tried at Beijing No. 1 Intermediate Court on 23 December 2009.

His wife was not permitted to observe the hearing, although his brother-in-law was present.^[4]^[30]^[31]

Diplomats from more than a dozen states – including the U.S., Britain, Canada, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand – were denied access to the court to watch the trial and stood outside the court for its duration.^[32]

Amongst these included Gregory May, political officer at the U.S. Embassy, and Nicholas Weeks, first secretary of the Swedish Embassy.^[33]

I have no enemies, and no hatred.
None of the police who have monitored, arrested and interrogated me, the prosecutors who prosecuted me, or the judges who sentence me, are my enemies.
While I’m unable to accept your surveillance, arrest, prosecution or sentencing, I respect your professions and personalities, including Zhang Rongge and Pan Xueqing who act for the prosecution at present.
I was aware of your respect and sincerity in your interrogation of me on December 3.
For hatred is corrosive of a person’s wisdom and conscience; the mentality of enmity can poison a nation’s spirit, instigate brutal life and death struggles, destroy a society’s tolerance and humanity, and block a nation’s progress to freedom and democracy.
I hope therefore to be able to transcend my personal vicissitudes in understanding the development of the state and changes in society, to counter the hostility of the regime with the best of intentions, and defuse hate with love....
I do not feel guilty for following my constitutional right to freedom of expression, for fulfilling my social responsibility as a Chinese citizen.
Even if accused of it, I would have no complaints.
– Liu Xiaobo, 23 December 2009^[34]

On 25 December, Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to eleven years' imprisonment and two years' deprivation of political rights by the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate Court on charges of "inciting subversion of state power."

According to Liu's family and counsel, he plans to appeal the judgment.^[5]

In the verdict, Charter 08 was named as part of the evidence supporting his conviction.^[5]

John Pomfret of The Washington Post said Christmas Day was chosen to dump the news because the Chinese government believed Westerners were less likely to take notice on a holiday.^[35]

China's political reform [...] should be gradual, peaceful, orderly and controllable and should be interactive, from above to below and from below to above.
This way causes the least cost and leads to the most effective result.
I know the basic principles of political change, that orderly and controllable social change is better than one which is chaotic and out of control.
The order of a bad government is better than the chaos of anarchy.
So I oppose systems of government that are dictatorships or monopolies.
This is not 'inciting subversion of state power'.
Opposition is not equivalent to subversion.
– Liu Xiaobo, Guilty of 'crime of speaking', 9 February 2010^[36]

In an article published in the South China Morning Post, Liu argued that his verdict violated China's constitution, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations.

He argued that charges against him of 'spreading rumours, slandering and in other ways inciting the subversion of the government and overturning the socialist system' were contrived, as he did not fabricate or create false information, nor did he besmirch the good name and character of others by merely expressing a point of view, a value judgment.^[36]

International response

Following Liu's detention, a number of individuals, states and organizations across the world called for his release.

On 11 December 2008, the U.S. Department of State called for Liu's release;^[37] on 22 December 2008, a consortium of scholars, writers, lawyers and human rights advocates called for Liu's release in an open letter;^[38] and on 21 January 2009, 300 international writers, including Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, Ha Jin and Jung Chang, called for Liu's release in a statement put out through PEN.^[28]

In March 2009 Liu Xiaobo was awarded with the Homo Homini Award by the One World Film Festival, organized by the People in Need foundation, for promoting freedom of speech, democratic principles and human rights.^[39]

In December 2009, the European Union and United States both issued formal appeals calling for the unconditional release of Liu Xiaobo.^[40]^[41]

China, responding to the international calls prior to the verdict, stated that other nations should "respect China's judicial sovereignty and to not do things that will interfere in China's internal affairs."^[42]

Responding to the verdict, United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Navanethem Pillay expressed concern at the deterioration of political rights in China.^[43]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel strongly criticized the verdict, stating "despite the great progress in other areas in the expression of views, I regret that the Chinese government still massively restricts press freedom."^[44]

Canada and Switzerland also condemned the verdict.^[45]^[46]

In Taiwan, Republic of China President Ma Ying-jeou called on Beijing to "tolerate dissent".^[47]

On 6 January 2010, former Czech president Václav Havel joined with other communist-era dissidents at the Chinese embassy in Prague to present a petition calling for Liu's release.^[48]

On 22 January 2010, European Association for Chinese Studies sent an open letter to Hu Jintao on behalf of over 800 scholars from 36 countries calling for Liu's release.^[49]

On 18 January 2010, Liu was nominated for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize by Václav Havel, the 14th Dalai Lama, André Glucksmann, Vartan Gregorian, Mike Moore, Karel Schwarzenberg, Desmond Tutu and Grigory Yavlinsky.^[50]

China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ma Zhaoxu stated that awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu would be "totally wrong".^[51]

Geir Lundestad, a secretary of the Nobel Committee, stated the award would not be influenced by Beijing's opposition.^[51]

On 25 September 2010, The New York Times reported that a petition in support of the Nobel nomination was being circulated in China.^[52]

On 14 September 2010, Jón Gnarr, the mayor of Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland, met on a unrelated matter with CPC Politburo member Liu Qi and demanded China set the dissident Liu Xiaobo free.

Also that September Václav Havel, Dana Němcová and Václav Malý, leaders of Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution, published an open letter in The International Herald Tribune calling for the award to be given to Liu, while a petition began to circulate soon afterwards.^[52]^[53]

On 6 October 2010, the non-governmental organization Freedom Now, which serves as international counsel to Liu Xiaobo as retained by his family, publicly released a letter from 30 U.S. Members of Congress to President Barack Obama (the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate), urging him to directly raise both Liu Xiaobo's case and that of fellow imprisoned dissident Gao Zhisheng to Chinese President Hu Jintao at the G-20 Summit in November 2010.^[54]

Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jiu congratulated Liu Xiaobo on winning the Nobel Prize and called on Mainland Chinese authorities to improve their human rights record, but stopped short of calling for his release from prison.^[55]

Nobel Peace Prize

Upon hearing about Liu's nomination for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, the Chinese foreign ministry warned the Nobel committee not to give Liu the prize, as they said that it would be against Nobel principles.^[56]

On 8 October 2010 the Nobel Committee awarded Liu the Prize "for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China".^[57]

The Norwegian Nobel Committee president Thorbjørn Jagland said the choice of Liu as the recipient of the prize had become clear early on in the process.^[56]

All news about the announcement of the award was immediately censored in China at the time of the announcement though later that day became available.

Foreign news broadcasters including CNN and the BBC were immediately blocked after mentioning the award in China.^[58]

Following government attempts to block Internet and SMS usages of Liu's name,^[59] citizens devised various circumlocutions (e.g., literally translating 刘晓波 as English "Dawn Wave Liu") to avoid the censorship.^[60]

The Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement that said, "The Nobel Peace Prize is meant to award individuals who promote international harmony and friendship, peace and disarmament. Liu Xiaobo is a criminal who has been sentenced by Chinese judicial departments for violating Chinese law. Awarding the peace to Liu runs completely counter to the principle of the award and is also a desecration of the Peace Prize."^[61]

The state-run Xinhua News Agency later carried a report saying that awarding Liu Xiaobo the prize defiles Alfred Nobel's purpose of creating this prize and "may harm China-Norway relations".

The spokeperson added that Liu had broken Chinese law and his "actions run contrary to the purpose of the Nobel Peace Prize."^[62]^[63]^[64]

The Norwegian ambassador to the People's Republic of China was summoned by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on 8 October 2010 and was presented with an official complaint against the granting of the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo.^[65]

A banquet to honor Liu Xiaobo for winning the Nobel Peace Prize by 20 plus Chinese netizens, human right lawyers, and academics was abruptly broken up by Beijing police.^[66]

Other meetings to commemorate the award were prevented by authorities; prominent intellectuals and other dissidents were detained, harassed or put under surveillance.^[67]

In the Hong Kong SAR of the PR China, a woman was charged with assault for accidentally splashing sparkling wine on a security guard while celebrating Liu's Nobel Prize outside the Liaison Office of the Central Government.^[68]

There were messages of congratulations from Western leaders, who called on China to reform its political, legal systems and its constitution and to release Liu.^[69]

European Commission president José Manuel Barroso,^[70] the British Foreign Secretary William Hague,^[70] U.S. President Barack Obama,^[71] and the Dalai Lama were among those who praised the decision, and called for Liu's release.^[72]

There was also solidarity with the Chinese view by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez^[73] and from Cuba.

Following the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize, Liu's wife, Liu Xia, was placed under house arrest^[74] but has not been charged with any offence.^[75]

Major publications

Critique on Choice - Dialogue with Le Zehou^[76]. Shanghai's People Publisher. 1987.
Aesthetics and Human Freedom^[77]. Bejiing Normal University Publishing. 1988.
Myths on Metaphysics^[78]. Shanghai's People publishing. 1989.
Naked to meet God^[79]. Times Literature and Art Publisher. 1989.
Monologue:Survivors of Doomsday^[80]. Taiwan Times Publishing. 1993.
Contemporary Politics and Intellectuals of China^[81]. Taiwan Tangshan Publishing. 1990.
Selected Poems of Liu Xiabo and Liu Xia^[82]. Hong Kong Xiafeier International Publishing Ltd. 2000.
Under pen name Lao Xia and co-authored with Wang Shuo (2000). A Belle Gave me Knockout Drug^[83]. Changjiang Literature and Arts Publishing.
To the Nation that Lies to His Conscience^[84]. Jieyou Publishing. 2002.
The Future of Free China in our life^[85]. Labor Reform Foundation. 2005.
A Single Blade and Toxic Sword: Critique on Comtempory Chinese Nationalism^[86]. Boda Publishing. 2006.
Sinking of Big Country: Memorandum to China^[87]. Yunchen Culture. 10 2009.

Awards

Hellman-Hammett Grant (1990, 1996)
Fondation de France Prize (2004): Award for Defending Freedom of Speech
China Foundation on Democracy Education (2003): Outstanding Democratic Activist
Hong Kong Human Rights Press Awards (2004, 2005, 2006)

Excellent Award (2004) for an article Corrupted News is not News, published on Open Magazine , January 2004 issue
Grand Prize (2005) for an article Paradise of the Powerful, Hell of the Vulnerable on Open Magazine, September 2004 issue
Excellent Award (2006) for The Causes and Ending of Shanwei Bloodshed on Open Magazine, January 2006

Homo Homini Award (2009)^[88]
PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award (2009)^[89]
Hermann Kesten Award (2010)^[90]
Nobel Peace Prize (2010)^[6]^[7]^[91]

References

^ Biography of Liu Xiaobo. Encyclopedia Britannica. 2010.
^ Benjamin Kang Lim, China's top dissident arrested for subversion, Reuters, 24 June 2009.
^ ^a ^b "刘晓波因涉嫌煽动颠覆国家政权罪被依法逮捕" (Liu Xiaobo Formally Arrested on 'Suspicion of Inciting Subversion of State Power' Charges), China Review News, 24 June 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Canghai [沧海], "刘晓波案闪电移送法院律师两次前往未能会见" [Liu Xiaobo's Case Quickly Escalated to the Court; Lawyers Twice Try to Meet with Liu to No Avail], Canyu [参与], 11 December 2009.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Beijing No. 1 Intermediate Court, Criminal Verdict no. (2009) yi zhong xing chu zi 3901, unofficial English translation in Human Rights in China, "International Community Speaks Out on Liu Xiaobo Verdict," 30 December 2009.
^ ^a ^b "The Nobel Peace Prize 2010 - Prize Announcement", nobelprize.org, 8 October 2010
^ ^a ^b "劉曉波獲諾貝爾和平獎 (Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize)",RTHK, 8 October 2010
^ McKinnon, Mark. "Liu Xiaobo could win the Nobel Peace Prize, and he’d be the last to know". The Globe and Mail. 7 October 2010. 'Ms. Liu said her husband had been told by his lawyer during a recent visit that he had been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, but he would be shocked if he won, she said. “I think he would definitely find it hard to believe. He never thought of being nominated, he never mentioned any awards. For so many years, he has been calling for people to back the Tiananmen Mothers (a support group formed by parents of students killed in the 1989 demonstrations)..”'
^ ^a ^b 明報記者陳陽、方德豪 (22 October 2008). "劉曉波﹕六四損鄧歷史地位"(in Chinese). Ming Pao (Hong Kong). Retrieved 26 December 2009.
^ Asia Watch Committee (1990). Repression in China since 4 June 1989: cumulative data. Human Rights Watch. p. 28. ISBN 978-0929692746.
^ "劉曉波簡歷". Boxun.com. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
^ ^a ^b Liu Xiaobo, "我與《開放》結緣十九年" (My 19 Years of Ties with "Open Magazine"), Open Magazine, 19 December 2006.
^ South China Morning Post. "SCMP." Personal traits give 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner global appeal. Retrieved on 9 October 2010.
^ Baculinao, Eric and Gu, Bo (8 October 2010)In China, citizens find ways to learn of Nobel prize, NBC News.
^ ^a ^b Link, Perry. "Charter 08 Translated from Chinese by Perry Link The following text of Charter 08, signed by hundreds of Chinese intellectuals and translated and introduced by Perry Link, Professor of Chinese Literature at the University of California, Riverside". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d 警車守門外多年被軟禁, 9 October 2010, Apple Daily (Hong Kong).
^ Liu Xiaobo, "劉曉波：勞教早該被廢除的惡法" (Reeducation-through-labor: An evil law which should be quickly repealed), Observe China, 6 December 2007.
^ Wang Ming, "A Citizen's Declaration on Freedom of Speech," China Rights Forum (spring 1997).
^ 赵紫阳亡灵:不准悼念和禁忌松动, Translation: Revenant of Zhao Ziyang, Author: Liu Xiaobo, Independent Chinese Pen Center
^ Reporters Without Borders, "Fondation de France Prize: Liu Xiaobo Receives Prize for Defence of Press Freedom," 21 December 2004.
^ 和平獎得主劉曉波小傳, Hong Kong Mingpao.
^ Ramzy, Austin (8 October 2010). "Chinese Dissident Liu Xiaobo Wins Nobel Peace Prize". Time. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
^ A Nobel Prize for a Chinese Dissident, The New York Times, September 20, 2010
^ "零八宪章签署者已过8600名，第十四批签名人正式名单" (Signatures to Charter 08 exceeds 8600, 14th list of signers attached), Boxun, 4 May 2009.
^ "著名学者张祖桦、刘晓波'失踪,'" Boxun, 9 December 2008.
^ "China Detains Dissidents ahead of Human Rights Day," Reuters, 9 December 2008; "Report: Chinese Police Detain Political Critic," Associated Press, 9 December 2008.
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^ ^a ^b "Writers Call for China Dissident's Release," Reuters, 9 December 2008.
^ 中华人民共和国刑法 (Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China)
^ Human Rights Watch, "China: Liu Xiaobo's Trial a Travesty of Justice," 21 December 2009.
^ Michael Anti, "Liu Xiaobo's brother-in-law says the trial ends without result. Waiting for lawyer coming out," 23 December 2009.
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^ Cara Anna, "Diplomats Kept Away from China Dissident's Trial," The Associated Press, 23 December 2009.
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^ "One World Homo Homini award goes to Chinese dissident". Aktualne.cz. 12 March 2009. Retrieved 3 December 2009.
^ Grajewski, Marcin (14 December 2009), "U.S., EU urge China to release prominent dissident", Reuters
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^ "Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Jiang Yu's Regular Press Conference on 24 December 2009". Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China. 25 December 2009.
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^ Illmer, Andreas, ed. (25 December 2009), "Rights groups, West blast China over sentence for leading dissident", Deutsche Welle
^ "Canada 'deplores' sentencing of Chinese dissident". AFP. 26 December 2009.
^ "Switzerland joins protests against China". Swissinfo. 26 December 2009.
^ Central News Agency (27 December 2009). "Ma asks Beijing to tolerate dissidents". Taiwan News.
^ Anderlini, Jamil (15 January 2010). "The Chinese dissident’s ‘unknown visitors’". Financial Times.
^ "OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA". European Association for Chinese Studies. 22 January 2010.
^ "A Chinese Champion of Peace and Freedom". Project Syndicate. 18 January 2010.
^ ^a ^b "China opposes Nobel for jailed dissident, lawmakers back Liu Xiabo". phayul.com. 6 February 2010.
^ ^a ^b "Petition Urges Nobel for Jailed Chinese Writer" article by Andrew Jacobs in The New York Times 25 September 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
^ "A Nobel Prize for a Chinese Dissident". The New York Times. 20 September 2010.
^ http://www.freedom-now.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Liu-Gao-Letter-from-30-Members-of-Congress.pdf
^ "Taiwan's Ma congratulates Nobel laureate Liu". The Associated Press. 9 October 2010.
^ ^a ^b "Nobel Peace Prize awarded to China dissident Liu Xiaobo". BBC News. 8 October 2010. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
^ "The Nobel Peace Prize 2010". Nobelprize.org. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
^ "China censors Nobel award". Bangkok Post. 8 October 2010.
^ Eric Baculinao and Bo Gu, "In China, citizens find ways to learn of Nobel prize", NBC News, 8 October 2010.
^ Victor Mair, "Liu Xiaobo", Language Log, 10 October 2010.
^ "China Angered By Selection of Dissident Liu Xiaobo for Nobel Peace Prize". ABC News. 8 October 2010. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
^ Vehaskari, Aira Katariina (8 October 2010). "Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo wins Nobel Peace Prize". AFP. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
^ "外交部发言人马朝旭答记者问". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China. 8 October 2010. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
^ "Awarding Liu Xiaobo Nobel peace prize may harm China-Norway relations, says FM spokesman". Xinhua News Agency. 8 October 2010.
^ 路透社. "中國召喚挪威大使抗議諾獎" (in Chinese). Ming Pao. Hong Kong. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
^ ANDREW JACOBS (9 October 2010). "China, Angered by Peace Prize, Blocks Celebration". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
^ Bei Feng (11 October 2010). "Viewing the Liu Xiaobo response through Twitter", China Media Project of the University of Hong Kong.
^ Celebrating Nobel, woman arrested for splashing champagne, CNN
^ 馬英九籲北京釋放劉曉波推行政治改革
^ ^a ^b CNN, World Reacts or Doesn’t to Nobel Announcement,http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/08/world-reacts-or-doesnt-to-nobel-announcement/
^ White House website, 8 October 2010 statement,http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/10/08/statement-president-awarding-nobel-peace-prize-liu-xiaobo
^ Dalai Lama congratulated fellow Nobel laureate, Times of India.
^ "Politics of the Nobel Peace prize - Asia-pacific". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
^ "Chinese Nobel prize winner's wife detained". CNN. 11 October 2010. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
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^ Original title:《选择的批判——与李泽厚对话》, published by 上海人民出版社
^ Original title: 《审美与人的自由》, published by 北京師范大學出版社
^ Original title:《形而上学的迷雾》, by 上海人民出版社
^ Original title: 《赤身裸体，走向上帝》, 时代文艺出版社
^ Original title:《末日幸存者的独白》, published by 台湾時報出版
^ Original title:《中国当代政治与中国知识份子》, published by 台北唐山出版社
^ 《刘晓波刘霞诗选》, published by 香港夏菲尔国际出版公司
^ Original title:《美人赠我蒙汗药》, by 长江文艺出版社
^ Original title: 《向良心说谎的民族》, published by 捷幼出版社
^ Original title:《未来的自由中国在民间》, published by 劳改基金会
^ Original title:《单刃毒剑——中国当代民族主义批判》, published by 博大出版社
^ Original title:《大國沉淪——寫給中國的備忘錄》, published by 允晨文化
^ One World Homo Homini award goes to Chinese dissident，2009年3月12日.
^ "Liu Xiaobo". Dw-world.de. 29 April 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
^ Liu Xiaobo De-World, 7 October 2010.
^ LIU XIAOBO'S NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WIN PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON CHINA RIGHTS VIOLATIONS Amnesty International [2010-10-08]

External links

Official Nobel Page for Liu Xiaobo
Collection of news articles about Liu Xiaobo, via China Digital Times
Free Liu Xiaobo now!
Freedom Now (International Lawyers Representing Liu Xiaobo)
English language articles and interviews
Film Excerpts of Liu Xiaobo from The Gate of Heavenly Peace
Interview with Liu Xiaobo (English and Chinese) by PEN American Center at YouTube
Nobel Peace Prize: Another Exercise in Political Cynicism
The Poet in an Unknown Prison letter by Liu from The New York Review of Books
30 September 2009 floor debate in U.S. Congress on the Liu Xiaobo resolution at YouTube
Unofficial English translation of Liu Xiaobo's 2009 criminal verdict
"Further Questions about Child Slavery in China's Kilns" - the Chinese court supporting Liu Xiaobo's subversion conviction
Chinese Dissident Awarded Nobel Peace Prize - slideshow by The New York Times
Jailed Chinese Dissident Liu Xiaobo Awarded Nobel Peace Prize - video report by Democracy Now!

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