Nobel Peace Prize to Chinese dissident harms award’s prestige: Pak

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has come out in support of China by questioning the decision to award the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to jailed academic Liu Xiaobo.

Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years in jail on December 25, 2009, after a court in Beijing convicted him of an agitation aimed at subverting the government.

The 54-year-old former university professor has now been awarded this year’s peace prize for his “long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.”

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry in a statement said that “Pakistan is surprised and deeply perturbed” over the award by the Nobel Peace Prize Committee.

“This decision runs contrary to the established principles for the award of the Prize and therefore cannot, but be seen to be detracting from the prestige associated with this award,” the Dawn quoted the statement, as saying.

The statement also said that Xiaobo was sentenced under Chinese law and “has done nothing that could possibly qualify him” for the award.

“The politicization of the Nobel Peace Prize for the purposes of interference in the domestic of affairs of states is not only contrary to the recognized principles of inter-state conduct, but also a negation of the underlying spirit conceived by the founder of the prize,” it said.

Earlier, China had questioned the “true intentions” of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, and accused them of disrespecting the Chinese judicial system.

“The Norwegian Nobel Committee, by giving the Peace Prize to a convicted person in China, shows no respect for the judicial system of China,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu had said.

Zhaoxu also said that politicians from some countries are using the award as an opportunity to attack China.

“This is not only disrespect for China’s judicial system, but also puts a big question mark on their true intention,” Zhaoxu said. (ANI)