The Nobel Peace Prize may not be handed out this year because China is not likely to let anyone from the family of imprisoned award-winner Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波) attend the ceremony, a Nobel official said, calling China’s diplomatic pressure this year unprecedented.
Outraged by the award, Beijing has reportedly clamped down on Liu’s relatives and pressured other countries not to send representatives to the Dec. 10 award ceremony in Oslo.
Ambassadors from Russia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Morocco and Iraq have all declined invitations to the ceremony, but didn’t specify the reasons, Norwegian Nobel Committee secretary Geir Lundestad said on Thursday.
“For an embassy to actively try to persuade other embassies to not participate in the ceremony is something new,” Lundestad said.
The prestigious 10 million kronor (US$1.4 million) award can only be collected by the laureate or close family members.
Liu, a Chinese dissident, is serving an 11-year sentence for subversion after co-authoring an appeal calling for reforms to China’s one-party political system. His wife, Liu Xia (劉霞), has been under house arrest and subject to police escort since the award was announced last month.
Lundestad said no other relatives have announced plans to travel to Oslo for the ceremony.
“The way it looks now, it is not likely that someone from his close family will attend,” Lundestad said. “Then we will not give out the medal and the diploma during the ceremony.”
If that happens, it will be the first time since 1936, when there was no one present to accept the medal and diploma for German journalist Carl von Ossietzky, who was seriously ill and not allowed to leave Nazi Germany. However, a representative of Ossietzky received the prize money only, Lundestad said.
Lundestad said the committee has not lost hope that someone from Liu’s family could attend the ceremony.
“If someone shows up at the last minute, it will not be a problem to change plans,” he said.
Liu Xiaobo has three brothers, the most well-known being Liu Xiaoxuan (劉曉暄), the youngest.
A Hong Kong-based human rights group has reported that two of the brothers have been unable to visit Liu in prison despite repeated requests.
Liu Xiaoxuan has also been told by his employer not to go, the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said.
Lundestad said 36 ambassadors have accepted the invitation to the ceremony and 16 ambassadors have not yet replied. Some of them have asked for more time to decide, he said.
The Chinese embassy has returned all Nobel correspondence unopened, he added.
Russian embassy spokesman Vladimir Isupov said the Russian ambassador would not be in Norway at the time of the award ceremony.
“It is not politically motivated and we do not feel we are pressured by China,” Isupov said.
In addition to the award cere-mony, the peace prize program includes a banquet on Dec. 10 and a concert held in the laureate’s honor the next day.
Organizers said the concert would be co-hosted by actors Anne Hathaway and Denzel Washington and feature performances by Barry Manilow, Jamiroquai and Elvis Costello among others.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft