Liu Xiaobo

An advocate of human rights and peace in China, Liu Xiaobo is the recipient of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, and is currently serving time in the Jinzhou prison of the Laoning Province for speaking against the communist one-party rule. Liu Xiaobo, who was Changchun, Jilin in China, and attended the Jilin University, was part of the original 1989 Tianamen Square protestors. However, he also persuaded students to leave the square for their safety, thus saving hundreds of lives. Liu was detained in a maximum security prison in Beijing, which housed many other political prisoners. Upon being released, he was put on house arrest shortly after the death of the Premier Zhou Ziyang, who sympathized with the protestors.

In 2004, he tried write a Human Rights Report on China, but his documents were confiscated by the government. Liu has been to a labor education camp to “rethink his crimes through labor,” and has been jailed four times. He was sent to jail again in 2009 for spreading “bad messages” and is due to come out in 2020. There are many protests against his containment, but the government has not yielded yet. The Chinese foreign ministry was staunchly against Liu receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, and warned the committee against giving it to him.

All news about Liu receiving the award was censored and the government of China officially called on the Norwegian ambassador for a complaint. Outside of China, the Nobel Peace Prize committee’s decision is almost universally praised. The recent awarding to Liu Xiaobo has reawakened protests for his freedom, and has caused many people in Hong Kong and Taiwan to publicly campaign against his containment.