ID :
145759
Tue, 10/12/2010 - 15:04
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/145759
The shortlink copeid
Wife of Nobel Peace laureate under house arrest in Beijing
BEIJING, Oct. 11 Kyodo - Members of the media and visitors continued to be prevented by Chinese security offers Monday from meeting the wife of jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize.
Simon Sharpe, a diplomat with the European Union delegation in Beijing, told
Kyodo News he was prevented from entering the apartment compound in western
Beijing where Liu Xia is being held under house arrest when he visited Monday
afternoon.
Sharpe, the delegation's first secretary of political affairs, said he went to
convey a congratulatory message to her for her husband's Nobel Peace Prize win,
but was told by security officials that unless he had a prior appointment with
her, he will not be allowed to visit.
Liu Xia had late Sunday said in a message posted on the Internet that she was
under house arrest in Beijing, and was incommunicado because her mobile phone
had been broken.
''Brothers, I've returned home, I have been under soft detention since the 8th
and don't know when I'll meet anyone because my mobile phone is broken and I
can't receive calls,'' she wrote in Chinese in a message posted on social
networking site Twitter.
''We're monitoring the situation,'' Sharpe said. ''Obviously we hope that Liu
Xia will be freed as soon as possible.''
A security presence was visible Sunday and Monday outside Liu Xia's apartment
compound in the western part of Beijing, and calls to her mobile phone could
not be connected, although she regularly provided updates through her Twitter
account.
In her Twitter post on Sunday, she said she had met with her husband in prison
over the weekend and relayed to him news of the Nobel win.
In the message, she called for public pressure over her detention.
She has been under heavy surveillance by Chinese authorities since her husband
was announced the winner of the Peace Prize on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, a Hong
Kong-based watchdog, said Monday that Liu had asked his wife to receive the
Nobel Peach Prize for him in Oslo.
Frank Lu, who heads the center, said in a statement he reached Liu Xia by phone
Monday and she told him that she should be able to travel outside the country
with her valid passport, although she is being monitored and escorted by police
around the clock.
The center also said Liu Xiaobo has been diagnosed with a ''serious case of
stomach ulcer'' and ''unconfirmed hepatitis B,'' adding he could apply for
medical probation if he was confirmed to have hepatitis.
Freedom Now, a U.S.-based non-profit group that works to free prisoners of
conscience, said in a press statement Sunday that the Nobel Peace Prize
laureate had cried and dedicated the award to the ''Tiananmen martyrs'' upon
receiving news of his win from his wife.
China has responded angrily to the awarding of the prestigious prize to a
dissident it considered a ''criminal.''
On Monday, Beijing called off a meeting scheduled for Wednesday between the
Norwegian fisheries minister, who arrived in China on Monday, and his Chinese
counterpart, the Associated Press reported.
Magnus Hodne, a spokesman with the Norwegian ministry, was quoted as saying
that China cancelled the meeting with Minister of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs
Lisbeth Berg-Hansen and he did not know the reason.
Before the award was announced, China had warned the Oslo-based Nobel Committee
that awarding the prize to someone it considers a ''criminal'' would damage
China-Norway ties.
After the announcement Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Liu's win was
a ''desecration'' of the peace prize and will damage bilateral ties with
Norway.
The headline in a commentary in the state-run China Daily newspaper Monday said
the award of the prize to Liu was ''Part of the plot to contain China.''
''This year's Nobel Peace Prize, like the 1989 award to the Dalai Lama, angered
the Chinese government because it is the West that is once again trying to
interfere in domestic issues,'' wrote Mo Nong, a copy editor with the paper.
''Liu's award is a provocation to China,'' he added. ''And every time the West
waves a stick, relations deteriorate.''
Simon Sharpe, a diplomat with the European Union delegation in Beijing, told
Kyodo News he was prevented from entering the apartment compound in western
Beijing where Liu Xia is being held under house arrest when he visited Monday
afternoon.
Sharpe, the delegation's first secretary of political affairs, said he went to
convey a congratulatory message to her for her husband's Nobel Peace Prize win,
but was told by security officials that unless he had a prior appointment with
her, he will not be allowed to visit.
Liu Xia had late Sunday said in a message posted on the Internet that she was
under house arrest in Beijing, and was incommunicado because her mobile phone
had been broken.
''Brothers, I've returned home, I have been under soft detention since the 8th
and don't know when I'll meet anyone because my mobile phone is broken and I
can't receive calls,'' she wrote in Chinese in a message posted on social
networking site Twitter.
''We're monitoring the situation,'' Sharpe said. ''Obviously we hope that Liu
Xia will be freed as soon as possible.''
A security presence was visible Sunday and Monday outside Liu Xia's apartment
compound in the western part of Beijing, and calls to her mobile phone could
not be connected, although she regularly provided updates through her Twitter
account.
In her Twitter post on Sunday, she said she had met with her husband in prison
over the weekend and relayed to him news of the Nobel win.
In the message, she called for public pressure over her detention.
She has been under heavy surveillance by Chinese authorities since her husband
was announced the winner of the Peace Prize on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, a Hong
Kong-based watchdog, said Monday that Liu had asked his wife to receive the
Nobel Peach Prize for him in Oslo.
Frank Lu, who heads the center, said in a statement he reached Liu Xia by phone
Monday and she told him that she should be able to travel outside the country
with her valid passport, although she is being monitored and escorted by police
around the clock.
The center also said Liu Xiaobo has been diagnosed with a ''serious case of
stomach ulcer'' and ''unconfirmed hepatitis B,'' adding he could apply for
medical probation if he was confirmed to have hepatitis.
Freedom Now, a U.S.-based non-profit group that works to free prisoners of
conscience, said in a press statement Sunday that the Nobel Peace Prize
laureate had cried and dedicated the award to the ''Tiananmen martyrs'' upon
receiving news of his win from his wife.
China has responded angrily to the awarding of the prestigious prize to a
dissident it considered a ''criminal.''
On Monday, Beijing called off a meeting scheduled for Wednesday between the
Norwegian fisheries minister, who arrived in China on Monday, and his Chinese
counterpart, the Associated Press reported.
Magnus Hodne, a spokesman with the Norwegian ministry, was quoted as saying
that China cancelled the meeting with Minister of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs
Lisbeth Berg-Hansen and he did not know the reason.
Before the award was announced, China had warned the Oslo-based Nobel Committee
that awarding the prize to someone it considers a ''criminal'' would damage
China-Norway ties.
After the announcement Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Liu's win was
a ''desecration'' of the peace prize and will damage bilateral ties with
Norway.
The headline in a commentary in the state-run China Daily newspaper Monday said
the award of the prize to Liu was ''Part of the plot to contain China.''
''This year's Nobel Peace Prize, like the 1989 award to the Dalai Lama, angered
the Chinese government because it is the West that is once again trying to
interfere in domestic issues,'' wrote Mo Nong, a copy editor with the paper.
''Liu's award is a provocation to China,'' he added. ''And every time the West
waves a stick, relations deteriorate.''
