Welcome to Oslo and Nobel Peace Prize ceremony
which always takes place on December 10th.
This is the date on which of Nobel died
and also the International Human Rights Day.
Even though the Peace Prize winner 2010, Chinese Liu Xiaobo,
is not allowed by Chinese authorities to be present today,
this will be a ruleless ceremony in the Oslo City Hall
and this hall has been the venue for the Peace Prize ceremony for 20 years.
The hall is filled with guests as usual for the ceremony.
About 1,000 guests are gather here today.
Many Chinese have came far off to be here,
many of them are well known dissidents.
Many of them were present that day
- the rebellion in Beijing in 1989.
One of the leaders of [unclear],
the rebellion at that time, Chai Ling,
was very active then is also here in the hall today.
The Peace Prize winner's chair is empty today,
but his portrait is placed by the rostrum.
Director of Nobel Institute Mr. Lundestad has called this year's awarding of the prize
"one of the most important decisions in the 109 years of Peace Prize history."
Liu Xiaobo is one of the principals behind the democracy appeal - Chater 08,
he dedicated prize to those who were killed during the student rebellion in '89.
The band of Oslo police force are greeting the arrivals
at the City Hall entrance as they do every year.
From bell tower we can hit carillion by handle,
play the honor of the prize winner.
Well, Liu Xiaobo, in his prison in China,
must full of the ceremony [unclear] thoughts,
he will be honored here in the hall
for his long and and non-violent struggle for human rights in China.
For many years, the Nobel Committee has recognized,
the connection between human rights and peace,
there are many champions of human rights among Peace Prize winners.
The president of Norwegian Parliament, Norway's Prime Minister and Foriegn Secretary,
are all present here today.
As are the High Court Chief Justice, several of the cabinet ministers
and about 80 members of parliament.
[unclear] also the president of the Sami Parliment and heads of many official institutions.
46 embassies of Oslo are represent here even though Chinese authorities
have called them to boycott the ceremony.
19 embassies have chosen not to attend,
among them, Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistani, Cuba, Iraq, Iran, Nepal, Egypt
and of course, China.
Chinese authorities look upon choice of Liu Xiaobo as a provocation
and showing contempt for the Chinese justice system.
They call him a criminal and country of Norway is self-responsible
for the decision of Nobel Committee even though the committee acts
independently on the [unclear].
China has tighten the rings on the dissidents of the country
after the decision to award the Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo.
But the Nobel Committee's decision has been met with [unclear] many coutries
and Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo has been described as very important
for the development of freedom of speech and human rights in China.
That is the reaction on of many Peace Prize winners,
like Lech Walesa, Bishop Mesmond Tutu and former Crezh president Vaclav Havel.
Havel and Tutu both suggested that Liu Xiaobo be nominated to the prize,
and Lech Walesa declared himself willing to come to Norway
to accept the prize on behalf of him.
Many others like last year's winner, U.S. President Barack Obama,
have requested that China release Liu Xiaobo,
other prize winners like Dalai Lama, Frederik Willem de Klerk and Mohamed El Baradei.
Havel has been suggested as a prize winner several times,
and Bishop Tutu has declared that China now has a unique chance
to choose a new direction, and thereby show
that they are becoming an important world power.
The city hall is beautiful, decorated with 10,000 flowers.
Many of them from [unclear] Columbia,
The flowers this year are chrysanthemum or [unclear], anthurium, bamboo and [unclear].
China has four flowers which are called Four Gentlemen,
and those are chrysanthemums, orchids and bamboo,
many of which are represent today.
The artist Gro Fraas has designed this year's Peace Prize diploma,
which hopefully will be given to Liu Xiaobo to gather with Nobel [unclear] before too long.
This is not the first time that a Nobel Peace Prize winner
has been unable to come to Norway to receive the prize for political reasons.
And there is Denzel Washington, the actor
who will be one of the host for the Nobel concert tomorrow night.
Nancy Pelosi is also present in the hall today,
she is the Democratic Leader in House of Representatives in Washington in United States.
So it isn't the first time a Nobel Peace Prize winner
has been unable to come to Norway to receive the prize for political reasons.
In 1991, Aung San Suu Kyi's two sons Alexander and Kim
received the prize on behalf of their mother.
The Burma stopped the prize winner from going to Oslo.
In 1983, Lech Walesa's wife Danuta and son Bogdan came to the prize ceremony,
[unclear] he did not go to Oslo beacuse if he's here
he would not be allowed back into Poland.
In 1978, Israel's Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egypt's President Anwar El Sadat
shared the prize, only Begin came to the ceremony.
Sadat gave as his reason for not coming that order engagements,
some people believe that he did not want to stand at the rostrum with Begin.
In 1975, the Russian Prece Prize winner Andrei Sakharov was not allowed to go to Oslo,
and his wife Yelena Bonner came here on his behalf.
The German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky was not allowed to go to Oslo for the 1935 Peace Prize.
Hitler denied any German to receive a Nobel Prize during his years in power.
The main room of the city hall is beautifully decorated by Norwegian artists.
On the walls we can see Fridtjof Nansen here,
explorer, humanist and himself a Peace Prize recipient in 1922.
There is Bjornstjerne Bjornson, he's another well-known Norwegian
depicted on the walls here, he's [unclear] first Nobel Committee,
and receive the Nobel Prize himself in Literature.
Outside the Oslo City Hall, everybody's waiting for the King and Queen to arrive down from the Paris.
The King and Queen are always present at the Peace Prize ceremony,
usually also the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, but they are abroad right now.
So this year the King and Queen are here.
They are welcome by the chair of Nobel Committee
and head of the Nobel Institute, Geir Lundestad.
King Harald V and Queen Sonja.
So, inside the hall about 1,000 people are waiting
for what is going to happen during this ceremony,
an historic ceremony as far as these Peace Prize ceremonies are concerned.
Many of the Chinese dissidents that are here as guests today have come
from far off to be here this morning.
The King and Queen's entrance is [unclear] by trumpeters from the King's guard.
This [unclear] important Peace Prize ceremony will be opened by
Norwegian soprano Maria Kvaring Solberg and pianist Havard Gimse.
They will perform Solveig's song from Ibsen's Peer Gynt
with music by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg.
Solberg has appeared in opera [unclear] with great organists
in Germany, Denmark, Russia, United States, Israel as well as in Norway.
The well-known Norwegian pianist Håvard Gimse has played
several Peace Prize ceremonies here in the hall before.
(Kanskje vil der ga bade Vinter og Var)
(og neste Sommer med og det hele Ar)
(men en gang vil du komme, det vet jeg vist)
(og jeg skal nok vente, for det lovte jeg sidst)
(Gud styrke dig, hvor du i Verden gar)
(Gud glaede dig, hvis du for hans Fodskammel star)
(Her skal jeg vente til du kommer igjen)
(og venter du hist oppe, vi traeffes der, min Ven)
Last year, the head of Nobel Committee Thorbjorn Jagland
made his Peace Prize speech to President Obama.
Today the prize winner's chair is empty.
But Jagland's speech is more important today.
Your Majesties, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010
to Liu Xiaobo for his long and non-violent struggle
for fundamental human rights in China.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has long believed that
there is a close connection between human rights and peace.
Such rights are a prerequisite for the "fraternity between nations"
of which Alfred Nobel wrote in his will.
This was the first paragraph of the Committee’s announcement
on the 8th of October this year.
We regret that the laureate is not present.
He is in isolation in a prison in north-east China.
Nor can the laureate’s wife Liu Xia or his closest relatives be with us.
No medal or diploma will therefore be presented here today.
This fact alone shows that the award was necessary and appropriate.
We congratulate Liu Xiaobo with this year’s Peace Prize.
There have been a number of previous occasions
when the laureate has been prevented from attending.
This has in fact been the case with several awards which in the light of history
have proven to be most significant and honourable.
Even when the laureate has come,
he or she has been severely condemned
by the authorities of his or her own country.
There was a great deal of trouble in 1935,
when the Committee gave the award to Carl von Ossietzky.
Hitler was furious, and prohibited all Germans from accepting any Nobel Prize.
King Haakon did not attend the ceremony, the committee was split.
Ossietzky did not come to Oslo, and died a year later.
There was considerable outrage in Moscow
when Andrej Sakharov received his Prize in 1975.
He, too, was prevented from receiving the award in person.
He sent his wife.
The same thing happened to Lech Walesa in 1983.
The Burmese authorities were furious when Aung San Suu Kyi received the Peace Prize in 1991.
Once again, the laureate could not come to Oslo.
In 2003, Shirin Ebadi received the Nobel Peace Prize.
She came.
Much could be said of the reaction of the Iranian authorities,
but the Iranian Ambassador did in fact attend the ceremony.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has given four prizes to South Africa.
All the laureates came to Oslo,
but the awards to Albert Lutuli in 1960 and to Desmond Tutu in 1984
provoked great outrage in the apartheid regime in South Africa,
before the applause broke out thanks to the awards
to Nelson Mandela and Frederik de Klerk in 1993.
The point of these awards has of course never been to offend anyone.
The Nobel Committee’s intention has been to say something about
the relationship between human rights, democracy and peace.
And it has been important to remind the world that the rights so widely enjoyed today
were fought for and won by persons who took great risks.
They did so for others, for all of us.
That is why Liu Xiaobo deserves our support today.
Although none of the committee’s members have ever met Liu,
we feel that we know him.
We have studied him closely over a long period of time.
Liu was born on the 28th of December 1955
in Changchun in China’s Jilin province.
He took a Bachelor’s degree in literature at Jilin University,
and a Master’s degree and a PhD at Beijing Normal University
where he also taught.
Stays abroad included visits to Oslo, Hawaii, and Columbia University, New York.
In 1989 he returned home to take part in the dawning democracy movement.
On the 2nd of June he and some friends started a hunger strike on Tiananmen Square
to protest against the state of emergency that had been declared.
They issued a six-point democratic manifesto, written by Liu,
opposing dictatorship and in favour of democracy.
Liu was opposed to any physical struggle
against the authorities on the part of the students,
he tried to find a peaceful solution to the tension
between the students and the government.
Non-violence was already figuring prominently in his message.
On the 4th of June he and his friends tried to prevent a clash
between the army and the students.
He was only partially successful.
Many lives were lost, most of them outside Tiananmen Square.
Liu has told his wife that he would like this year’s Peace Prize
to be dedicated to "the lost souls from the 4th of June".
It is indeed a pleasure for us to fulfil his wish.
Liu has said that "The greatness of non-violent resistance is that
even as man is faced with forceful tyranny and the resulting suffering,
the victim responds to hate with love, to prejudice with tolerance,
to arrogance with humility, to humiliation with dignity,
and to violence with reason."
Tiananmen became a turning-point in Liu’s life.
In 1996, Liu was sentenced to three years in a labour camp
for so called "rumour-mongering and slander".
He was president of the independent Chinese PEN-centre from 2003 to 2007.
Liu has written nearly 800 essays,
499 of them since 2005.
He was one of the chief architects behind Charter 08,
which was made known on the 10th of December 2008,
which was, in the words of the preamble of the document
on the occasion of "the 100th anniversary of China’s first Constitution,
the 60th anniversary of the promulgation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
the 30th anniversary of the birth of the Democracy Wall,
and the 10th anniversary of the Chinese government’s signature
of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights."
Charter 08 defends fundamental human rights and has in due course been signed
by several thousand persons both in China itself and abroad.
On the 25th of December 2009,
Liu was sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment and two years’ loss of political rights
for, in the words of the sentence,
"incitement to the overthrow of the state power
and socialist system and the people’s democratic dictatorship."
Liu has consistently claimed that the sentence violates
both China’s own constitution and fundamental rights.
There are many dissidents in China,
and their opinions differ on many points.
The severe punishment imposed on Liu made him
more than a central spokesman for human rights.
Practically overnight, he became the very symbol,
both in China and internationally,
of the non-voilent struggle for such rights in China.
We can see that Liu reminds us Nelson Mandela.
Your Majesties, ladies and gentlemen,
During the cold war,
the connections between peace and human rights were disputed.
Since the end of the cold war, however,
peace researchers and political scientists have almost without exception
underlined how close those connections are.
This is, allegedly, one of the most robust findings they have arrived at.
Democracies may go to war against dictatorships,
and have certainly waged colonial wars,
but there is, apparently, not a single example
of a democracy having gone to war against another democracy.
So the deeper "fraternity between nations"
which Alfred Nobel mentions in his will,
and which is a prerequisite for real peace,
can hardly be created without human rights and democracy.
There are scarcely any examples in world history of a great power
achieving such rapid growth over such a long period of time as China.
Since 1978, year by year, decade after decade,
the country’s growth rate has stood at 10 percent or more.
A few years ago the country’s output was greater than Germany’s,
this year it exceeded Japan’s.
China has thus achieved the world’s second largest gross national product.
The United States' national product is still three times greater than China’s,
but while China is continuing its advance,
the United States is in serious difficulties.
So economic success has lifted several hundred million Chinese out of poverty.
For the reduction in the number of poor people in the world,
China must be given the main credit.
We all appreciate this and commend
and congratulate China for this extraordinary achievements.
And therefore We can to a certain degree say that China
with its 1.3 billion people is carrying mankind’s fate on its shoulders.
If the country proves capable of developing a social market economy
with full civil rights,
this will have a huge favourable impact on the world.
If not, there is a danger of social and economic crises arising in the country,
with negative consequences for us all.
And here we have arrived at the very logic of this year's prize.
Historical experience gives us reason to believe that
continuing rapid economic growth presupposes opportunities
for free speech, free research, free thinking and free debate.
And moreover, without freedom of expression,
corruption, the abuse of power, and misrule will develop.
Every power system must be counterbalanced
by popularly elected control, free media,
and the right of individual citizens to criticise.
More or less authoritarian states may have long periods of rapid economic growth,
but it is no coincidence that nearly all the richest countries
in the world are democratic.
Democracy mobilises new human and technological resources.
China’s new status entails increased responsibility.
China must be prepared for criticism and regard it as positive
as an opportunity for improvement.
This must be the case wherever there is great power.
We have all formed opinions on the role of the United States through the years.
Friends and allies criticised the country both for the Vietnam War
and for the lack of civil rights for the coloured people.
Many Americans were opposed to the award of the Nobel Peace Prize
to Dr. Martin Luther King in 1964.
Looking back, we can see that the United States grew stronger,
when the African-American people obtained their rights.
China, too, will grow stronger if its people is grounded civil rights.
Many will ask whether China’s weakness
- for all the strength the country is currently showing -
is not manifested in the need to imprison a man for eleven years
merely for expressing his opinions on how his country should be governed.
This weakness finds clear expression in the sentence on Liu,
where it is underlined as especially serious
that he spread his opinions on the Internet.
But those who fear technological advances have every reason to fear the future.
Information technology can not be abolished.
It will continue to open societies.
As Russia’s President Dmitrij Medvedev put it in an address to the Duma,
and I quote, "The new information technology gives us an opportunity
to become connected with the world.
The world and society are growing more open
even if the ruling class does not like it."
No doubt Medvedev had the fate of the Soviet Union in mind.
Compulsory uniformity and control of thought prevented the country
from participating in the technological revolution
which took place in the 1970s and 1980s.
The system broke down.
The country would have stood to gain a great deal more
from entering into a dialogue at an early stage with people like Andrej Sakharov.
Your Majesties, ladies and gentlemen,
Today's world order is the consequence of two horrible voice in the 20th century.
The world has to move from nationalism to internationalism
by establishing the United Nations
and adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Today, therefore, neither the nation-state nor a majority
within the nation-state has unlimited power.
Human rights limit what the nation-state and the majority in a nation-state can do.
This must apply to all states that are members of the United Nations
and who have acceded to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
China has signed and even ratified several of the UN’s and the ILO’s
major international conventions on human rights.
It is interesting that China has accepted
the supranational conflict-resolving mechanism of the World Trade Organization.
China’s own constitution upholds fundamental human rights.
Article 35 of the country’s constitution thus lays down that
"Citizens of the People’s Republic of China enjoy freedom of speech,
of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration."
Article 41 begins by stating that citizens
"have the right to criticise and make suggestions
regarding any state organ or functionary."
Liu has only exercised his civil rights.
He has not done anything wrong.
He must be released.
In the past 100 to 150 years,
human rights and democracy have gained an ever-stronger position in the world.
And with them, peace.
This can be clearly seen in Europe,
where so many wars were fought,
and whose colonial powers started so many wars around the world.
Europe today is on the whole a continent of peace.
Decolonization after the Second World War gave a number of countries,
first in Asia and then in Africa,
the chance to govern themselves with respect for basic human rights.
With India in the lead, many of them seized the opportunity.
Over the latest decades,
we have seen how democracy has consolidated its position
in Latin America and in Central and Eastern Europe.
Many countries in the Muslim part of the world are treading the same path.
Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia.
Several other countries are in the process of opening up their political systems.
The human rights activists in China are defenders of the international order
and the main trends in the global community.
Viewed in that light, they are not dissidents,
they represent the world's common values and standards.
Liu denies that criticism of the Communist Party is the same as
offending China and the Chinese people.
He argues that "Even if the Communist Party is the ruling party,
it cannot be equated with the country.
let alone with the nation and its culture."
Changes in China can take time, a very long time,
political reforms should, as Liu says,
"be gradual, peaceful, orderly and controlled."
China has, in his words, had enough of attempts at revolutionary change.
They only lead to chaos.
But as Liu also writes,
"An enormous transformation towards pluralism in society has already taken place,
and official authority is no longer able to fully control the whole society."
However strong the power of the regime may appear to be,
every single individual must do his best to live
in his words, "an honest life with dignity."
The answer from the Chinese authorities is to claim that
this year’s Peace Prize humiliates China,
and to give very derogatory descriptions of Liu.
History shows many examples of political leaders playing
on nationalist feelings and attempting to demonize holders of contrary opinions.
They soon become foreign agents.
This has sometimes happened in the name of democracy and freedom,
but almost always with a tragic outcome.
We recognise, for instance, this in the rhetoric of the struggle against terrorism:
"You are either for me or against me."
Such undemocratic methods as torture and imprisonment
without sentence have been used in the name of freedom.
This has led to more polarisation of the world
and harmed the fight against terrorism.
Liu Xiaobo is an optimist, despite his many years in prison.
In his closing appeal to the court on the 23rd of December 2009, he said,
"I, filled with optimism, look forward to the advent of a future free China.
For there is no force that can put an end to the human quest for freedom,
China will in the end become a nation ruled by law,
where human rights reign supreme."
Your Majesties, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
Isaac Newton once said,
"If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."
When we are able to look ahead today,
it is because we are standing on the shoulders of the many men and women
who over the years – often at great risk – have stood up for
what they believed in and thus made our freedom possible.
And therefore, while some are only looking to the commercial interests,
some political leaders only focussing exclusively on
their short-term national interests,
and others remaining totally indifferent,
the Norwegian Nobel Committee has once again chosen to support
those who fight – for us all.
We congratulate Liu Xiaobo on the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010.
His views will in the long run strengthen China.
We extend to him and to China our very best wishes for the years ahead.
Thank you very much.
Your Majesties, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
It has not been possible, as you know,
for Liu Xiaobo or any of his close relatives to come to Oslo
to receive the Nobel medal and diploma.
At this stage in the ceremony,
we normally hand over the medal and diploma,
by place them in the empty chair held by Liu Xiaobo.
We shall have more music.
First, Chinese music.
The violion player Lynn Chang, has been in Boston [unclear] for many years,
he has played with some of the world's most famous orchestras
and perform [unclear] won serveral important music prizes.
He will first play Chinese traditional, "Jasmine Flowers".
He will now play "Salut D'amour" by Sir Edward Elgar.
Now international actress and film producer Liv Ullmann will now read
the final appeal let Liu Xiaobo held in court on the 23rd of December, 2009,
when he was sentenced to 11 years in jail.
Ladies,
Your Majesties, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
The text I'm going to read
"I Have No Enemies: My Final Statement"
was Liu Xiaobo's final declaratiion on December 23nd, 2009
at the trial against him.
Two days later, he will sentence to 11 years of prison.
I Have No Enemies: My Final Statement
Liu Xiaobo, December 23rd, 2009.
In the course of my life, for more than half a century,
the 4th of June, 1989 was the major turning point.
Up to that point,
I was a member of the first class to enter university (Class of '77)
when college entrance examinations were reinstated following the Cultural Revolution.
From B.A. to M.A. and on to Ph.D.,
my academic career was all smooth sailing.
Upon receiving my degrees, I stayed on to teach at Beijing Normal University.
As a teacher, I was well received by the students.
At the same time, I was a public intellectual,
writing articles and books that created quite a stir during the 1980s,
frequently receiving invitations to give talks around the country,
and going abroad as a visiting scholar upon invitation
from England and Europe and from America.
What I demanded of myself was this: whether as a person or as a writer,
I would lead a life of honesty, responsibility, and dignity.
After that, because I had returned from the U.S. to take part in the 1989 Movement,
I was thrown into prison for
"the crime of counter‑revolutionary propaganda and incitement."
I also lost my beloved lectern
and could no longer publish essays or give talks in China.
Merely for publishing different political views
and taking part in a peaceful democracy movement,
a teacher lost his lectern, a writer lost his right to publish,
and a public intellectual lost the opportunity to give talks publicly.
This is a tragedy, for me personally and for a China
that has already seen thirty years of Reform and Opening Up.
When I think about it, after June 4th, 1989,
My two opportunities to address the public have both been associated with courts.
They have both been provided by trial sessions at
the Beijing Municipal Intermediate People's Court,
once in January 1991, one and again today.
Although the crimes I have been charged with on the two occasions are different in name,
their real substance is basically the same - both are speech crimes.
Twenty years have passed,
but the ghosts of June 4th, 1989 have not yet been laid to rest.
Upon release from Qincheng Prison in 1991,
I, who had been led onto the path of political dissent
by the psychological chains of June 4th,
lost the right to speak publicly in my own country
and could only speak through the foreign media.
And because of this, I was subjected to year-round monitoring,
kept under residential surveillance (May 1995 to January 1996)
and sent to Reeducation-Through-Labor (October 1996 to October 1999).
And now again I have been shoved into the dock
by the enemy mentality of the regime.
But I still want to say to this regime,
which is depriving me of my freedom,
that I stand by the convictions I expressed
in my “June 2nd Hunger Strike Declaration” twenty years ago
- I have no enemies and no hatred.
None of the police who monitored, arrested, and interrogated me,
none of the prosecutors who indicted me,
and none of the judges who judged me are my enemies.
Although there is no way I can accept
your monitoring, arrests, indictments, and verdicts,
I respect your professions and your integrity,
including those of the two prosecutors, Zhang Rongge and Pan Xueqing,
who are now bringing charges against me on behalf of the prosecution.
During interrogation on December 3rd,
I could sense your respect and your good faith.
Hatred can rot away at a person’s intelligence and conscience.
Enemy mentality will poison the spirit of a nation,
incite cruel mortal struggles, destroy a society’s tolerance and humanity,
and hinder a nation’s progress toward freedom and democracy.
That is why I hope to be able to transcend my personal experiences
as I look upon our nation’s development and social change,
to counter the regime’s hostility with utmost goodwill,
and to dispel hatred with love.
Everyone knows that it was Reform and Opening Up that
brought about our country’s development and social change.
In my view, Reform and Opening Up began with the abandonment of the
“using class struggle as guiding principle” government policy of the Mao era and,
and in its place, a commitment to economic development and social harmony.
The process of abandoning the “philosophy of struggle” was also a process of
gradual weakening of the enemy mentality and elimination of the psychology of hatred,
and a process of squeezing out the “wolf’s milk” that had seeped into human nature.
It was this process that provided a relaxed climate,
at home and abroad, for Reform and Opening Up,
gentle and humane grounds for restoring mutual affection among people
and peaceful coexistence among those with different interests and values,
thereby providing encouragement in keeping with
humanity for the bursting forth of creativity
and the restoration of compassion among our countrymen.
One could say that abadoning the “anti-imperialist and anti-revisionist”
stance in foreign relations and “class struggle” at home
has been the basic premise that has enabled
Reform and Opening Up to continue to this very day.
The market trend in the economy,
the diversification of culture,
and the gradual shift in social order toward the rule of law
have all benefitted from the weakening of the “enemy mentality.”
Even in the political arena, where progress is slowest,
the weakening of the enemy mentality
has led to an ever-growing tolerance for social pluralism on the part of the regime
and substantial decrease in the force of persecution of political dissidents,
and the official term of the 1989 Movement
has also been changed from “turmoil and riot” to “political disturbance.”
The weakening of the enemy mentality has paved the way for the regime
to gradually accept the universality of human rights.
In 1997 and 1998 the Chinese government made a commitment
to sign two major United Nations international human rights covenants,
signaling China’s acceptance of universal human rights standards.
In 2004, the National People’s Congress improved the Constitution,
writing into the Constitution for the first time that
“the state respects and guarantees human rights,”
signaling that human rights have already become
one of the fundamental principles of China’s rule of law.
At the same time, the current regime puts forth the ideas
of “putting people first” and “creating a harmonious society,”
signaling progress, this is the regime’s concept of rule.
I have also been able to feel this progress on the macro level
through my own personal experience since my arrest.
Although I continue to maintain that I am innocent
and that the charges against me are unconstitutional,
during the one plus year since I have lost my freedom,
I have been locked up at two different locations
and gone through four pretrial police interrogators,
three prosecutors, and two judges, but in handling my case,
they have not been disrespectful, overstepped time limitations,
or tried to force a confession.
Their manner has been moderate and reasonable;
moreover, they have often shown goodwill.
On June 23, I was moved from a location where I was kept
under residential surveillance to the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau’s
No. 1 Detention Center, known as “Beikan.”
During my six months at Beikan,
I saw improvements in prison management.
In 1996, I spent time at the old Beikan.
And compared to the old Beikan,
the present Beikan is a huge improvement,
both in terms of the “hardware” - the facilities
- and the “software” - the management.
In particular, the humane management pioneered by the new Beikan,
based on respect for the rights and integrity of detainees,
has brought flexible management to bear on every aspect
of the behavior of the correctional staff,
and has found expression in the “comforting broadcasts,”
Repentance magazine, and music before meals, on waking and going to bed.
This style of management allows detainees
to experience a sense of dignity and warmth,
and stirs their consciousness in maintaining prison order
and opposing the bullies among inmates.
Not only has it provided a humane living environment for detainees,
it has also greatly improved the environment for their litigation
to take place and their state of mind.
I’ve had close contact with correctional officer Liu Zheng,
who has been in charge of me in my cell,
and his respect and care could be seen in every detail of his work,
permeating his every word and deed, and giving one a warm feeling.
It was perhaps my good fortune to have gotten to know this sincere, honest,
conscientious, and kind correctional officer during my time at Beikan.
It is precisely because of such convictions and personal experience
that I firmly believe that China’s political progress will not stop,
and I, filled with optimism,
look forward to the advent of a future free China.
For there is no force that can put an end to the human quest for freedom,
and China will in the end become a nation ruled by law,
where human rights reign supreme.
I also hope that this sort of progress can be reflected in this trial
as I await the impartial ruling of the collegial bench
- a ruling that will withstand the test of history.
If I may be permitted to say so, the most fortunate experience of
these past twenty years has been the selfless love
I have received from my wife, Liu Xia.
She could not be present as an observer in court today,
but I still want to say to you, my dear,
hat I firmly believe your love for me will remain the same as it has always been.
Throughout all these years that I have lived without freedom,
our love was full of bitterness imposed by outside circumstances,
but as I savor its aftertaste, it remains boundless.
I am serving my sentence in a tangible prison,
while you wait in the intangible prison of the heart.
Your love is the sunlight that leaps over high walls
and penetrates the iron bars of my prison window,
stroking every inch of my skin, warming every cell of my body,
allowing me to always keep peace, openness, and brightness in my heart,
and filling every minute of my time in prison with meaning.
My love for you, on the other hand,
is so full of remorse and regret
that it at times makes me stagger under its weight.
I am an insensate stone in the wilderness,
whipped by fierce wind and torrential rain,
so cold that no one dares touch me.
But my love is solid and sharp,
capable of piercing through any obstacle.
Even if I were crushed into powder,
I would still use my ashes to embrace you.
My dear, with your love I can calmly face my impending trial,
having no regrets about the choices I’ve made and optimistically awaiting tomorrow.
I look forward to the day when my country is a land with freedom of expression,
where the speech of every citizen will be treated equally well;
where different values, ideas, beliefs, and political views
can compete with each other and peacefully coexist;
where both majority and minority views will be equally guaranteed,
and where the political views that differ from those currently in power,
will be fully respected and protected;
where all political views will spread out under the sun for people to choose from,
where every citizen can state political views without fear,
and where no one can under any circumstances
suffer political persecution for voicing divergent political views.
I hope that I will be the last victim of China’s endless literary inquisitions
and that from now on no one will be incriminated because of speech.
Freedom of expression is the foundation of human rights,
the source of humanity, and the mother of truth.
To strangle freedom of speech is to trample on human rights,
stifle humanity, and suppress truth.
In order to exercise the right to freedom of speech conferred by the Constitution,
one should fulfill the social responsibility of a Chinese citizen.
There is nothing criminal in anything I have done.
But if charges are brought against me because of this, I have no complaints.
Thank you, everyone.
[unclear]
Because Liu Xiaobo...
[unclear]
[unclear] was specially wanted the children's choir to sing here today
[unclear] children symbolise hope, peace and future.
Now this is the children's choir from Norwegian Natioanl Opera
conducted by Ragnhild Hemsing
With the song from the children of Norwegian National Opera,
[unclear] to the end of this Peace Prize ceremony
in the City Hall, Oslo.
The Peace Prize ceremony usually ends with
the King and Queen congratulating the winner.
This year, there is no winner here in the hall to congratulate.
But even without the winner here in Oslo this time,
There are things happening both today and tomorrow
This evening there will be a torch parade through Oslo's main street
as it is every year and with many Chinese dissidents among the participants.
But the balcony of Grand Hotel where traditional
Peace Prize winner watches the parade
will be empty and dark today.
Tomorrow is the Nobel concert.
I'm in the Nobel Peace Center near the City Hall,
people can visit an exhibition where Liu Xiaobo's gorgeous fight for human rights.
It is depicted in photos, poems and interviews.