Monday, December 13, 2010

The Empty Chair: China's Shame at Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony

Folks who keep up with international human rights (that would be us) have been dismayed with China's reactionary response to the Nobel Peace Prize, an award that went to the Chinese activist Liu Xiaobo.

At last week's ceremony, Liu Xiaobo was absent because he's in prison in China for his free speech and human rights activities. He was represented in Oslo by an empty chair. 

Writing in The New York Review of Books, Perry Link has a moving report from Oslo and the significance of the empty chair. Link's essay is here.