07-14-2017, 10:14 PM
*** 15-Jul-17 World View -- Paranoid China races to censor news of death of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Paranoid China races to censor news of death of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo
****
![[Image: g170714b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g170714b.jpg)
Iconic photo of Liu Xiaobo and his wife Liu Xia
Chinese censors and Chinese Communist Party officials have been
working overtime to protect the Chinese people from learning anything
about what happened to international peace activist and Nobel Peace
Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, who died of liver cancer on Thursday after
Chinese authorities for weeks refused to allow him to travel outside
of China to receive care that might have saved his life.
Liu Xiaobo was present at the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in
Beijing, where college students from all over the country had come for
peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations. By coincidence, CNN was in
Beijing for another reason, and the protests could be seen worldwide.
I still recall those scenes live on CNN, and listening to Bernard
Shaw, who was on the air almost 24 hours a day, saying that this was
the most amazing thing he had seen in his life.
On June 4, the peaceful protests came to an end. The Chinese army
came in and massacred thousands of college students who had come to
Beijing for peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations. Liu Xiaobo's
extremely courageous act was to negotiate with the military to allow
several hundred student protests to have safe passage and leave,
rather than be slaughtered mercilessly. Liu was jailed for 21 months
for calling for political reforms and greater freedoms for the people
of China.
Liu was repeatedly jailed after that for supporting democracy in
China. In 2008, he was arrested for drafting a democracy manifesto,
and was never again free.
In 2010, Liu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for "his long nonviolent
struggle for fundamental human rights in China." At that point, his
wife Liu Xia was also jailed, and has been in jail ever since.
Now that he's dead, the Chinese censors are working night and day to
make sure that the Chinese people are kept in complete ignorance.
Social media posts mourning him are banned. A simple phrase like
"RIP" is banned. An image of a burning candle is banned. Online
searches that reference any aspect of his life are banned.
You really have to laugh at this. Chinese officials like president Xi
Jinping and the other Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials are good
at a lot of things. They're good at raising enormous armies with huge
weapons systems. They're good at invading and annexing other
countries' regions in violation of international law, including in the
South China Sea. They're good at threatening war and conducting war
for anyone who doesn't do what they're told. They're good at
torturing, killing and massacring people.
But Xi Jinping and the other CCP officials turn into whimpering fools
at the thought of anyone in China commemorating the death of Liu
Xiaobo. Or of posting an image of a burning candle. Or of wishing
that he rest in peace. It's really amazing.
By the way, here's a small bit of historical trivia. Liu was not the
first Nobel Peace Prize winner to die while in prison. German
pacifist Carl von Ossietzky, died in a hospital while held by the
Nazis in 1938. CNN and Asian Age (India) and Mashable
****
**** China responds with outrage at countries praising Liu Xiaobo
****
The United States, Germany, France, the European Union and the United
Nations criticized Chinese officials after he died for not allowing
him to receive medical care outside the country. Germany and the
United States had offered to take him in for medical care.
Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said that Liu should never have
been given the Nobel Peace Prize:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"Conferring the [Nobel Peace] prize to such a person
> goes against the purposes of this award. It's a blasphemy of the
> peace prize."<END QUOTE>[/indent]
The Chinese are calling the awarding of the peace prize "meddling" in
China's national affairs. However, Berit Reiss-Andersen, Chairman of
the Norwegian Nobel Committee, says that argument is not valid,
because human rights is an international affair, not a national
affair:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"When it comes to the argument of interference, the
> point of view of the Norwegian Nobel Committee is that our task is
> to hand out the Peace Prize. And we hand out the Peace Prize to
> the most deserving person of that year, who has contributed who
> has contributed to worldwide peace. Now the standard of human
> rights is not a national affair; it is an international affair.
> People have basic human rights, because they are people, and so
> this is not a valid argument in my point of view. And Nobel Peace
> Prize formally been handed out to other critics of their regimes
> in smaller countries, for instance, Aung San Suu Kyi [of Myanmar]
> and Lech Walesa [of Poland]. And this time in 2010 it was Liu
> Xiaobo and it was the first time a citizen of such a world power
> was handed the peace prize for human rights struggle, and the
> struggle for democratic reforms. It would have been cowardly of
> the peace prize if we were hesitant because our candidate came
> from a powerful nation, and if we only awarded prizes to
> individuals from smaller nations. And we do not look to
> that."<END QUOTE>[/indent]
Much to the consternation of Chinese officials, on Friday, a number of
countries issued statements highly critical of the Chinese
government's handling of Liu, and commemorating his death.
In addition, many foreign leaders are demanding that Liu's wife, Liu
Xia, who has been under arrest since her husband won the Nobel Peace
Prize in 2010, should now be freed from prison, and permitted to leave
China.
A spokesman for Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel quoted her as
saying: “I mourn Liu Xiaobo, the courageous fighter for civil rights
and freedom of opinion. Deep condolences to his family.” Foreign
minister Sigmar Gabriel said, “She and her brother, Liu Hui, should
immediately be allowed to leave for Germany or another country of
their choice if they wish to."
France's President Emmanuel Macron tweeted: “Tribute to Liu Xiaobo,
Nobel Prize Peace Laureate, great freedom fighter. Thoughts and
support to his relatives and his wife Liu Xia.”
Norway's Prime minister Erna Solberg said: “It is with deep grief that
I received the news of Liu Xiaobo’s passing. Liu Xiaobo was for
decades a central voice for human rights and China’s further
development. My thoughts go now to his wife, Liu Xia, and his family
and friends.”
Canada's foreign minister Chrystia Freeland said, “I offer my sincere
condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Liu and to his many
supporters around the world. In particular, my thoughts go to
Mr. Liu’s wife, Liu Xia, herself a tremendous symbol of courage and
poise, who remains under house arrest. We continue to call for the
release of all political prisoners.”
These statements wouldn't be all that important if it were for the
fact that China is infuriated at them to the point of hysteria.
Incredibly, China's ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said that China was
lodging official protests with these countries for interfering in
China's "judicial sovereignty."
The European Union issued a statement saying, “We appeal to the
Chinese authorities to allow his wife, Ms. Liu Xia and his family to
bury Liu Xiaobo at a place and in a manner of their choosing and to
allow them to grieve in peace."
Now, that's an interesting request -- allow Liu's family to bury him
at a place of their choosing. This is something that the paranoid CCP
officials would never allow, because they don't want Liu's grave to
become a place where pilgrims can come and conduct vigils. Chinese
authorities will want to dump Liu's body in as obscure a place as
possible, and they may have him cremated.
Another interesting statement came from Taiwan's President Tsai
Ing-wen: “We hope that the Chinese authorities can show confidence in
engaging in political reform so that the Chinese can enjoy the
God-given rights of freedom and democracy. This will be a turning
point in cross-strait relations. The Chinese dream is not supposed to
be about military might. It should be about taking ideas like those
from Liu Xiaobo into consideration. Only through democracy, in which
every Chinese person has freedom and respect, can China truly become a
proud and important county.”
One can only imagine the red hot fury of Chinese officials reading
that statement from Taiwan's president. State-run media called Tsai's
statement "dangerous" and "reckless," and quoted Ma Xiaoguang,
spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"Taiwan authorities ... have made reckless remarks on
> the mainland's political system upon Liu Xiaobo's death. ...
>
> Ma said that the DPP and its leader had lifted the deceptive veil
> of "maintaining the current situation," attacked the mainland
> repeatedly and aggravated cross-strait conflicts, attempting to
> pull cross-strait relations back to tensity and turbulence.
>
> "Such behavior is very dangerous," said Ma.
>
> Only people on the mainland have the right to judge the mainland's
> political, economic and social development, said Ma, adding that
> the DPP should focus on and reflect on the chaos they have brought
> to the island and the harm they have done to cross-strait
> relations."<END QUOTE>[/indent]
Americans have a special connection to Liu Xiaobo because he was
living in America prior to the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, and
returned to China at that time specifically to work for democracy in
China. On Friday in Washington, Senator Ted Cruz is reintroducing a
bill to change the name of the street in front of the Chinese Embassy
in Washington to "1 Liu Xiaobo Plaza." When similar legislation was
being discussed last year, Chinese officials said that the bill would
have "severe consequences" if passed. AFP and South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) and China Daily (Beijing) and Nikkei
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, China, Liu Xiaobo, Liu Xia,
Tiananmen Square, CNN, 1989, Carl von Ossietzky,
Geng Shuang, Berit Reiss-Andersen, Norwegian Nobel Committee,
Germany, Angela Merkel, Sigmar Gabriel, France, Emmanuel Macron,
Norway, Erna Solberg, Canada, Chrystia Freeland,
Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, Ma Xiaoguang, Ted Cruz
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Paranoid China races to censor news of death of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo
- China responds with outrage at countries praising Liu Xiaobo
****
**** Paranoid China races to censor news of death of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo
****
Iconic photo of Liu Xiaobo and his wife Liu Xia
Chinese censors and Chinese Communist Party officials have been
working overtime to protect the Chinese people from learning anything
about what happened to international peace activist and Nobel Peace
Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, who died of liver cancer on Thursday after
Chinese authorities for weeks refused to allow him to travel outside
of China to receive care that might have saved his life.
Liu Xiaobo was present at the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in
Beijing, where college students from all over the country had come for
peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations. By coincidence, CNN was in
Beijing for another reason, and the protests could be seen worldwide.
I still recall those scenes live on CNN, and listening to Bernard
Shaw, who was on the air almost 24 hours a day, saying that this was
the most amazing thing he had seen in his life.
On June 4, the peaceful protests came to an end. The Chinese army
came in and massacred thousands of college students who had come to
Beijing for peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations. Liu Xiaobo's
extremely courageous act was to negotiate with the military to allow
several hundred student protests to have safe passage and leave,
rather than be slaughtered mercilessly. Liu was jailed for 21 months
for calling for political reforms and greater freedoms for the people
of China.
Liu was repeatedly jailed after that for supporting democracy in
China. In 2008, he was arrested for drafting a democracy manifesto,
and was never again free.
In 2010, Liu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for "his long nonviolent
struggle for fundamental human rights in China." At that point, his
wife Liu Xia was also jailed, and has been in jail ever since.
Now that he's dead, the Chinese censors are working night and day to
make sure that the Chinese people are kept in complete ignorance.
Social media posts mourning him are banned. A simple phrase like
"RIP" is banned. An image of a burning candle is banned. Online
searches that reference any aspect of his life are banned.
You really have to laugh at this. Chinese officials like president Xi
Jinping and the other Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials are good
at a lot of things. They're good at raising enormous armies with huge
weapons systems. They're good at invading and annexing other
countries' regions in violation of international law, including in the
South China Sea. They're good at threatening war and conducting war
for anyone who doesn't do what they're told. They're good at
torturing, killing and massacring people.
But Xi Jinping and the other CCP officials turn into whimpering fools
at the thought of anyone in China commemorating the death of Liu
Xiaobo. Or of posting an image of a burning candle. Or of wishing
that he rest in peace. It's really amazing.
By the way, here's a small bit of historical trivia. Liu was not the
first Nobel Peace Prize winner to die while in prison. German
pacifist Carl von Ossietzky, died in a hospital while held by the
Nazis in 1938. CNN and Asian Age (India) and Mashable
****
**** China responds with outrage at countries praising Liu Xiaobo
****
The United States, Germany, France, the European Union and the United
Nations criticized Chinese officials after he died for not allowing
him to receive medical care outside the country. Germany and the
United States had offered to take him in for medical care.
Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said that Liu should never have
been given the Nobel Peace Prize:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"Conferring the [Nobel Peace] prize to such a person
> goes against the purposes of this award. It's a blasphemy of the
> peace prize."<END QUOTE>[/indent]
The Chinese are calling the awarding of the peace prize "meddling" in
China's national affairs. However, Berit Reiss-Andersen, Chairman of
the Norwegian Nobel Committee, says that argument is not valid,
because human rights is an international affair, not a national
affair:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"When it comes to the argument of interference, the
> point of view of the Norwegian Nobel Committee is that our task is
> to hand out the Peace Prize. And we hand out the Peace Prize to
> the most deserving person of that year, who has contributed who
> has contributed to worldwide peace. Now the standard of human
> rights is not a national affair; it is an international affair.
> People have basic human rights, because they are people, and so
> this is not a valid argument in my point of view. And Nobel Peace
> Prize formally been handed out to other critics of their regimes
> in smaller countries, for instance, Aung San Suu Kyi [of Myanmar]
> and Lech Walesa [of Poland]. And this time in 2010 it was Liu
> Xiaobo and it was the first time a citizen of such a world power
> was handed the peace prize for human rights struggle, and the
> struggle for democratic reforms. It would have been cowardly of
> the peace prize if we were hesitant because our candidate came
> from a powerful nation, and if we only awarded prizes to
> individuals from smaller nations. And we do not look to
> that."<END QUOTE>[/indent]
Much to the consternation of Chinese officials, on Friday, a number of
countries issued statements highly critical of the Chinese
government's handling of Liu, and commemorating his death.
In addition, many foreign leaders are demanding that Liu's wife, Liu
Xia, who has been under arrest since her husband won the Nobel Peace
Prize in 2010, should now be freed from prison, and permitted to leave
China.
A spokesman for Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel quoted her as
saying: “I mourn Liu Xiaobo, the courageous fighter for civil rights
and freedom of opinion. Deep condolences to his family.” Foreign
minister Sigmar Gabriel said, “She and her brother, Liu Hui, should
immediately be allowed to leave for Germany or another country of
their choice if they wish to."
France's President Emmanuel Macron tweeted: “Tribute to Liu Xiaobo,
Nobel Prize Peace Laureate, great freedom fighter. Thoughts and
support to his relatives and his wife Liu Xia.”
Norway's Prime minister Erna Solberg said: “It is with deep grief that
I received the news of Liu Xiaobo’s passing. Liu Xiaobo was for
decades a central voice for human rights and China’s further
development. My thoughts go now to his wife, Liu Xia, and his family
and friends.”
Canada's foreign minister Chrystia Freeland said, “I offer my sincere
condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Liu and to his many
supporters around the world. In particular, my thoughts go to
Mr. Liu’s wife, Liu Xia, herself a tremendous symbol of courage and
poise, who remains under house arrest. We continue to call for the
release of all political prisoners.”
These statements wouldn't be all that important if it were for the
fact that China is infuriated at them to the point of hysteria.
Incredibly, China's ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said that China was
lodging official protests with these countries for interfering in
China's "judicial sovereignty."
The European Union issued a statement saying, “We appeal to the
Chinese authorities to allow his wife, Ms. Liu Xia and his family to
bury Liu Xiaobo at a place and in a manner of their choosing and to
allow them to grieve in peace."
Now, that's an interesting request -- allow Liu's family to bury him
at a place of their choosing. This is something that the paranoid CCP
officials would never allow, because they don't want Liu's grave to
become a place where pilgrims can come and conduct vigils. Chinese
authorities will want to dump Liu's body in as obscure a place as
possible, and they may have him cremated.
Another interesting statement came from Taiwan's President Tsai
Ing-wen: “We hope that the Chinese authorities can show confidence in
engaging in political reform so that the Chinese can enjoy the
God-given rights of freedom and democracy. This will be a turning
point in cross-strait relations. The Chinese dream is not supposed to
be about military might. It should be about taking ideas like those
from Liu Xiaobo into consideration. Only through democracy, in which
every Chinese person has freedom and respect, can China truly become a
proud and important county.”
One can only imagine the red hot fury of Chinese officials reading
that statement from Taiwan's president. State-run media called Tsai's
statement "dangerous" and "reckless," and quoted Ma Xiaoguang,
spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"Taiwan authorities ... have made reckless remarks on
> the mainland's political system upon Liu Xiaobo's death. ...
>
> Ma said that the DPP and its leader had lifted the deceptive veil
> of "maintaining the current situation," attacked the mainland
> repeatedly and aggravated cross-strait conflicts, attempting to
> pull cross-strait relations back to tensity and turbulence.
>
> "Such behavior is very dangerous," said Ma.
>
> Only people on the mainland have the right to judge the mainland's
> political, economic and social development, said Ma, adding that
> the DPP should focus on and reflect on the chaos they have brought
> to the island and the harm they have done to cross-strait
> relations."<END QUOTE>[/indent]
Americans have a special connection to Liu Xiaobo because he was
living in America prior to the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, and
returned to China at that time specifically to work for democracy in
China. On Friday in Washington, Senator Ted Cruz is reintroducing a
bill to change the name of the street in front of the Chinese Embassy
in Washington to "1 Liu Xiaobo Plaza." When similar legislation was
being discussed last year, Chinese officials said that the bill would
have "severe consequences" if passed. AFP and South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) and China Daily (Beijing) and Nikkei
Related Articles
- China's people commemorate the Tiananmen Square massacre, June 4, 1989 (04-Jun-2009)
- China scrambles to suppress Tiananmen Square terror attack reports (30-Oct-2013)
- Hong Kong and Taiwan commemorate China's Tiananmen Square massacre (05-Jun-2011)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, China, Liu Xiaobo, Liu Xia,
Tiananmen Square, CNN, 1989, Carl von Ossietzky,
Geng Shuang, Berit Reiss-Andersen, Norwegian Nobel Committee,
Germany, Angela Merkel, Sigmar Gabriel, France, Emmanuel Macron,
Norway, Erna Solberg, Canada, Chrystia Freeland,
Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, Ma Xiaoguang, Ted Cruz
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
