Nobel ceremony honours jailed Chinese activist Liu Xiaobo (Roundup)

OSLO - An empty chair served as a stark reminder of the absence of Nobel Peace Prize laureate, jailed Chinese political activist Liu Xiaobo, at Friday’s ceremony at Oslo City Hall.

Liu’s optimism about political change in China and calls for reconcilation were strong themes in the award ceremony boycotted by China.

The ceremony included a performance by a children’s choir - a wish Liu had managed to convey to organisers from his imprisonment.

Liu is serving an 11-year sentence on charges of sedition. He was sentenced for his role in organising the Charter ‘08 for democratic reform of communist China.

Liu was awarded for his “long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China,” Nobel Committee head Thorbjorn Jagland said.

Jagland expressed “regret” over the absence of Liu, who is “in isolation in a prison in northeast China” and also noted the absence of his wife and other close relatives from the ceremony.

In their absence, the committee decided not to present the award. After paying tribute to Liu and his efforts, Jagland placed the laureate’s medal and diploma in an empty chair.

A large portrait of Liu was also displayed in the hall.

Instead of an acceptance speech, Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann read a “final statement” titled “I Have No Enemies” that was released by Liu’s supporters after his sentencing a year ago.

In the statement, Liu underlined the importance of the 1989 democracy movement - where he took part in a hunger strike - that ended with a crackdown in Beijing’s Tianamen Square, observing “the ghosts of June 4 (1989) have not yet been laid to rest”.

The 54-year-old said he was convinced China would change and “there is no force that can put an end to the human quest for freedom, and China will in the end become a nation ruled by law, where human rights reign supreme”.

He also paid tribute to his wife, Liu Xia, now under house arrest in Beijing, saying her love “is the sunlight that leaps over high walls and penetrates the iron bars of my prison window”.

The Nobel Institute said that at least 15 countries were absent from the ceremony.

China was angered by this year’s choice of Liu as the Peace Prize laureate, calling him a “criminal” and urging countries to stay away from the prize ceremony. Beijing also blocked live broadcasts of the ceremony carried by foreign broadcasters.

Members of the Norwegian government and outgoing speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi were among the prominent guests.

The some 1,000 guests gave a long round of applause when Jagland extended congratulations to the absent Liu and called for his release.

Jagland reminded guests, including King Harald and Queen Sonja of previous occasions when the laureate was unable to attend, including 75 years ago when German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky won the award to the fury of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.

Jagland said the prize to Liu was not a prize against China and underlined that the country’s growing power “entails increased responsibility” and it must be prepared to accept “criticism” - just as was the case for the US in the past.

A separate ceremony was due later in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, for winners of the Nobel Prizes in the fields of medicine, chemistry, literature and economics.