Chinese dissident who won Nobel prize probably unaware

LONDON - Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo who won the Nobel peace prize Friday is probably not aware that he has won the prestigious prize, a media report said.

Liu, 54, is serving 11 years jail term for incitement to subvert state power, The Guardian reported Friday.

He was detained at his home in Beijing in December 2008 after he co-authored Charter 08, which is a call for democratic reforms in the country.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman had earlier said that awarding Liu the prize would contradict the aims of the award.

An official at Norway ’s Nobel institute said that a senior Chinese official had warned that Sino-Norwegian relations would be hit if Liu got the prize.

“There was never a question for him of abandoning the struggle, although he was very critical about the (1989 student) movement,” Jean-Philippe Bja, of the Paris-based Centre for International Studies and Research, was quoted as saying.

“He is a person who wants to live in truth.”

The media report said that it was highly unlikely that Liu knows he has won.

Liu’s lawyer had told him his name had been forwarded.

However, it is thought he knows little about the nomination as he is not allowed to talk about current affairs with visitors to his jail in Jinzhou, Liaoning province.

The dissident is permitted to see his relatives for an hour each month.