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LA vigil outside Chinese consulate to honor Nobel Peace Prize winner
A candlelight vigil will be held tonight outside the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles to honor Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, a human rights dissident imprisoned in China.
Groups expected to participate in the 8 p.m. event include the Asian-Pacific Human Rights Foundation, China Democracy Educational Foundation, Chinese Alliance for Democracy, Hong Kong Forum and Visual Artists Guild.
Last Christmas, Liu was sentenced to 11 years in a Chinese prison for subversion for initiating a document called Charter 08, which is a manifesto demanding many of the rights in the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, vigil organizers said.
Charter 08 was modeled after Charter 77 by Czechoslovakian writers and intellectuals, including future Czech President Vaclav Havel, in 1977, calling for change in that country.
Last year's winner, President Barack Obama, issued a statement calling Liu "an eloquent and courageous spokesman for the advance of universal values'' and called on the Chinese government to free Liu "as soon as
possible.''
The Chinese government reportedly deleted news of the prize from Chinese websites, removed his name from Twitter services and jammed a CNN broadcast from Oslo.
A spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry called Liu a "convicted criminal sentenced to jail by Chinese justice authorities for violation of Chinese law.''
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The official said that by giving Liu the prize, the Nobel committee had "totally gone against the purpose of the award'' and "committed blasphemy against the peace prize.''
The Nobel has often been awarded to imprisoned peace activists.
In announcing the award, Norwegian Nobel Committee President Thorbjoern Jaglan, lauded Liu for his "long and nonviolent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.''
Unless the Chinese release Liu, he will be unable to receive the Nobel when it is to be awarded in Oslo in December.
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