Last year's announcement that Liu Xiaobo would win the Nobel Peace Prize infuriated the Chinese government. Liu had been in jail serving an eight-year sentence for "subversion" at the time. His crime: co-authoring the so-called Charta 08, which demanded political reforms in Beijing.

For the government, the nomination made by the Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize committee was a clear provocation, an attack on the Chinese justice system and a slap in the face for the Chinese people.

Family Liu under pressure

His family has only been able to visit him four times since the award ceremony. Liu received permission to attend his father's funeral outside of jail last September. But that was a rare exception to the rule. Liu Xiaoxuan, Liu Xiaobo's brother, confirmed this in a telephone interview with the French news agency AFP, but refused to say more. Liu's entire family has to be very careful in public. His wife, Liu Xia, was put under house arrest right after the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. The world is forced to speculate on her experiences, and as she has not been able to have contact with foreign media.

Dr. Yang Jianli, researcher at Harvard University, who accepted the peace prize in Liu's absence in 2010, told Deutsche Welle, "Liu's family is under a great amount of pressure. Liu Xia wrote a text message about seven months ago and that was the last time we've heard anything from her." Yang is concerned for the safety of Liu's family and does not believe the Nobel Peace Prize has in any way contributed to an improvement in human rights in China; if anything, conditions have worsened. "It pains us to see how Liu Xiaobo and his wife have to suffer."

Yang Jianli founded the human rights organization Citizen Power in the US. In January of this year, he appealed to the United Nations to demand that the government in Beijing release Liu Xiaobo and end Liu Xia's house arrest, arguing that China is the only country which keeps peace prize laureates locked up.

Repression and censorship

Since the Nobel Committee recognized Liu Xiaobo and especially since the recent democracy movements in many Arab countries, Beijing has been stepping up the repression on dissidents in the country. A number of rights activists, lawyers and intellectuals have reported an increase in surveillance. Some have even reported being brutally beaten, others have disappeared or have been arbitrarily incarcerated.

The most well known case is that of Ai Weiwei. The Chinese government imprisoned the well-known artist - a man who used to be very open in his criticism - to silence him. It has worked. Albert Ho, Chairman of the Democratic Party of Hong Kong, regrets the worsening of China's human rights situation. "The government should know that it is not only lacking the support of the country's people, but that it does not have a healthy political system that can sustain its power. The country will only experience real stability if there are extensive political reforms and if the state starts guaranteeing the protection of universal rights." Universal rights which Liu Xiaobo advocated in his Charta 08, for example, saying that the regime should allow people to form their own opinions.

A year later, after the new laureates have received their prizes, the international community is still waiting for Beijing to release Liu Xiaobo. Geir Lundestad, Director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute informed Deutsche Welle that he does not have any further information on Liu Xiaobo and that his prize money was being managed by the Nobel Foundation.

Author: Xiegong Fischer / sb
Editor: Grahame Lucas