Liu Xiaobo Awarded Nobel Peace Prize
Imprisoned dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his "long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights"; China denounced the award as an "obscenity" and pressured dozens of countries to boycott the ceremony, leaving his empty chair as an enduring symbol.
Liu Xiaobo and Charter 08
Liu Xiaobo was a literature scholar and longtime democracy advocate who had been imprisoned for his role in the 1989 Tiananmen protests. In 2008, he was a principal author of Charter 08 — a manifesto signed by thousands of Chinese citizens calling for constitutional reform, human rights protection, and democratic governance. He was arrested in December 2008, months before Charter 08 was published, and sentenced in December 2009 to 11 years in prison for "inciting subversion of state power."
The Nobel Prize
The Nobel Committee announced Liu's Peace Prize on October 8, 2010, describing his "long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China." Liu was serving his sentence at the time and could not attend the ceremony. His wife, Liu Xia, was placed under extrajudicial house arrest — despite never being charged with any crime — and remained confined for eight years. At the December ceremony in Oslo, Liu's empty chair became the defining image: no family member or representative was permitted to accept the prize.
China's Response
China denounced the award as an "obscenity" and "political tool" designed to undermine China. The Foreign Ministry summoned ambassadors of countries planning to attend the ceremony; an estimated 18 countries boycotted the event under Chinese pressure. Beijing established its own "Confucius Peace Prize" as a counter-award. Liu Xiaobo was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer in May 2017 and died in custody on July 13, 2017 — the first Nobel Peace Prize laureate to die in state custody since Carl von Ossietzky in 1938.