Jailed intellectual wins Nobel Prize

LIU Xiaobo, a vocal champion for greater democracy and human rights protection in China, has been awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.

The 54-year-old, who was previously jailed for his involvement in the 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy protests, was sentenced in December to 11 more years in prison for subversion - a punishment that earned international condemnation.

Liu was arrested in late 2008 after co-writing Charter 08, a widely circulated petition that called for political reform in the Communist-ruled nation.

The bold manifesto, which has been signed by more than 10,000 people since it went online, calls for the protection of basic human rights and the reform of China's one-party system.

"The government opposes (giving the Nobel Peace Prize to him) because they fear that it will draw more attention to Liu Xiaobo and to China's situation (on democracy and human rights)," his wife Liu Xia said earlier this week.
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