2010 Nobel Peace Prize

China should change to respect universal values

The Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to an imprisoned Chinese dissident has sent a clear message on human rights and peace to not only China but also the world. Announcing the selection of Liu Xiaobo as the recipient Friday, the independent panel cited him for his long and nonviolent struggle for fundamental human rights in the Asian country.

No doubt Liu, 54, deserves the Nobel award as he has devoted himself to advocating basic human rights and pressing for political reform in China. The former literature professor participated in the bloody pro-democracy protests in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989. He was also a leading author of Charter 08, a rights manifesto, which was published on the 60th anniversary of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Dec. 10, 2008.

Liu has been serving time since he was sentenced to 11 years in prison on subversion charges last year. As the Nobel Committee said, Liu has become the symbol of unwavering struggles for basic rights of human beings. That’s why world leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, have called for the immediate release of the Nobel laureate. The Chinese authorities should no longer turn a deaf ear to the growing voices of the international community for Liu’s freedom.

China is also required to improve its shameful track record of rights abuses and stop suppressing people’s aspiration for democracy. The rapidly rising Asian power has emerged as the world’s second-largest economy after the United States. Its brilliant success story has also become the target of envy among most people around the globe. It is predicted to edge out America in terms of economic might in 10 to 20 years. Its great advance is the result of its bold economic reform and opening that was initiated by Deng Xiaoping in 1978.

Despite its breathtaking economic growth, China leaves something to be desired. In fact, the country is under criticism for making little progress in political reform to move toward democracy. The Chinese have established the booming socialist market economy at the sacrifice of human rights and democratic institutions. This might have been inevitable as seen in the development process of South Korea and other industrializing countries in the past.

But, now is the time for China to match its remarkable economic achievements with political reform if it wants to become a real power in the world. The country can hardly sustain its high growth without putting a democratic system in place. In this sense, Beijing officials and its people must interpret the Nobel Peace Prize for Liu as a clarion call for promoting universal values. But it is regrettable that the Chinese government has quickly reacted with anger and protest over the award.

It is disappointing to see the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs call in the Norwegian ambassador to China to express its displeasure at the Nobel Prize for the rights activist. Beijing officials said they oppose any other countries’ interference in China’s internal affairs, noting that Chinese people fully enjoy basic human rights. They even denounced the award as “blasphemy” and an insult to its people.

We hope China will refrain from angry reactions to the citation and review its human rights situation. It is necessary for Chinese leaders, politicians and bureaucrats to show tolerance to dissenting voices and criticism for the country’s disregard for the universal and democratic values. They should think over the true wish of Alfred Nobel who founded the Nobel Prizes.