Jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiabo has been awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize. Liu, China's best-known dissident, is serving an 11-year sentence for trying to subvert state power. He was detained in 2008 for co-authoring Charter 08, an open letter calling for democratic reforms. The Nobel committee praised Liu, who was first jailed for his role in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, for his "long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China," the AP reports.
The committee said it has "has long believed that there is a close connection between human rights and peace," reports the Guardian, which notes that the decision is certain to infuriate China. The 54-year-old is not allowed to discuss current affairs with visitors and it's unlikely that he knows he has won the Nobel. Transmission of the BBC and CNN was interrupted in China as the committee announced its decision. Click here to read about how other Chinese dissidents were pushing for him not to win.
(More Liu Xiaobo stories.)
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