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Will the Nobel Peace Prize promote democracy?

On Friday the Nobel Peace Prize Committee in Oslo will announce the winner of this year’s prize. One of the leading candidates (the odds-on favorite according to Irish book-makers Paddy Power) is imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. Liu is the intrepid author of the "Charter 08" document calling for democracy in China. Modeled on the ...

By , the executive director of the Clements Center for National Security and the author of The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink.
MIKE CLARKE/AFP/Getty Images
MIKE CLARKE/AFP/Getty Images
MIKE CLARKE/AFP/Getty Images

On Friday the Nobel Peace Prize Committee in Oslo will announce the winner of this year's prize. One of the leading candidates (the odds-on favorite according to Irish book-makers Paddy Power) is imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. Liu is the intrepid author of the "Charter 08" document calling for democracy in China. Modeled on the landmark "Charter 77" that played an instrumental role in galvanizing freedom's voices behind the Iron Curtain (and written in part by then-Czech dissident Vaclav Havel, himself a supporter of Liu's Nobel candidacy), Charter 08 has been signed by hundreds of Chinese intellectuals. It has prompted wide attention and support from Chinese dissidents, and the wrath of the Chinese Communist Party, such that Liu is now serving an 11-year prison sentence.

On Friday the Nobel Peace Prize Committee in Oslo will announce the winner of this year’s prize. One of the leading candidates (the odds-on favorite according to Irish book-makers Paddy Power) is imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. Liu is the intrepid author of the "Charter 08" document calling for democracy in China. Modeled on the landmark "Charter 77" that played an instrumental role in galvanizing freedom’s voices behind the Iron Curtain (and written in part by then-Czech dissident Vaclav Havel, himself a supporter of Liu’s Nobel candidacy), Charter 08 has been signed by hundreds of Chinese intellectuals. It has prompted wide attention and support from Chinese dissidents, and the wrath of the Chinese Communist Party, such that Liu is now serving an 11-year prison sentence.

The Chinese Government fears that Liu might receive the Peace Prize, evidenced by the PRC’s preemptive threats against the Norwegian Government. Nobel Institute director Geir Lundestad astutely dismissed China’s ham-handed efforts at intimidation: "China has come with warnings before, but they have no influence on the committee’s work."  

The Peace Prize might go to another worthy recipient, such as Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai or Afghan women’s rights advocate Sima Samar. We will all know soon enough. This is an opportunity for the White House to begin putting some follow-up action behind President Obama’s laudable UNGA speech two weeks ago, affirming his commitment to promoting human rights and democracy – and to show support for a fellow Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. 

For example, if Liu does indeed receive the prize on Friday, how about President Obama makes an in-person, live statement to the press congratulating Liu and calling on the Chinese government to release him from prison, immediately and unconditionally? (The latter meaning not house-arrest but true freedom of movement, speech, and association.) This would be a profound show of support not only for Liu but for all of China’s dissidents and prisoners of conscience. And on next month’s trip to Asia, President Obama could encourage the leaders of the other Asian democracies he visits — such as India, Indonesia, South Korea, and Japan — to speak out on Liu’s behalf as well. This would make clear that China’s repressive system is not just an American concern but a concern to all free nations. 

China’s recent thuggish attempts at power-projection in Asia have alarmed many neighboring nations. But the core problem with China is not that it is a rising power; it is the nature of the regime. China’s rising power would be much more welcomed by the region if the Chinese government was accountable to its citizens and respected their rights and freedoms. This is the kind of China that Liu Xiaobo and the other signatories to Charter 08 seek to bring about. They deserve our support.

Will Inboden is the executive director of the Clements Center for National Security and an associate professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, both at the University of Texas at Austin, a distinguished scholar at the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law, and the author of The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War, and the World on the Brink.

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