Prominent Tiananmen victim to attend Nobel Peace Prize ceremony+

TAIPEI, Nov. 20 Kyodo -
Chinese democracy activist Fang Zheng said Saturday he will travel to Oslo,
Norway, to attend the Dec. 10 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony for jailed laureate
Liu Xiaobo.
Fang, 44, an athlete whose legs were crushed by a tank and later amputated
during the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989, has grown in prominence as an
activist since arriving in the United States early last year.
In a telephone interview from California on Saturday, Fang said he will arrive
in Oslo on Dec. 8 to participate in the award ceremony for the author of
''Charter 08,'' a document whose call for political and other reform incensed
Beijing and led to Liu's arrest and conviction for subversion.
Fang said he has no firm plan other than to attend the award ceremony and an
evening of music Dec. 11 in Liu's honor.
He said other activists such as Yang Jianli are organizing activities to mark
the occasion, though the likelihood he will make a statement to the media is
''not high.''
Fang has never met Liu and is not included in a list of 143 people invited by
Liu's wife, now apparently under house arrest, to attend the Oslo ceremony.
Xu Wenli, the U.S.-based chairman of the Chinese Democracy Party's overseas
division, told Kyodo News in Taipei on Tuesday that Fang's presence in Oslo
would send a powerful signal to Beijing and the democracy movement.
==Kyodo
2010-11-20 23:46:54


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