STEVE INSKEEP, host:
It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.
RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
And I'm Renee Montagne.
The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in Norway earlier today, and as the chairman of the Nobel Committee pointed out, the winner himself was not there.
Mr. THORBJORN JAGLAND (Chairman, Nobel Committee): We regret that the laureate is not present. He is in isolation in a prison in northeast China. This fact alone shows that the award was necessary and appropriate. We congratulate Liu Xiaobo with this year's Peace Prize.
(Soundbite of applause)
MONTAGNE: China has jailed that laureate, Liu Xiaobo, for his dissident activities, and Beijing has waged a furious campaign against the award.
The Chinese government has made sure that Liu's supporters can't attend the ceremony, putting them under house arrest and restricting travel. NPR's Philip Reeves is in Norway's capital, Oslo, and he joins us now to talk about all of this.
And talk to us about that ceremony today.
PHILIP REEVES: Well, it was very dramatic - partly because Liu was symbolized at the ceremony by an empty chair, and also a large portrait of him wearing glasses and smiling. Dramatic also because of China's anger over this award. As you know, Liu's regarded by China as a criminal. He's serving 11 years in jail for subversion, after being the chief architect of a charter calling for political reform. So the guests one thousand or so people who assembled in the city hall in Oslo would have known they were witnessing an important moment, a tense moment also in China's relations with the West.
Now, Thorbjorn Jagland, the chair of the Nobel Committee we heard from a moment ago made a pretty direct speech. He reviewed Liu's career as a dissident, highlighting his role at Tiananmen Square in 1989, and he said the committee had studied him for a long time, felt it knew him very well. His speech was punctuated by long bursts of applause, and he got a standing ovation when he made this appeal.
Mr. JAGLAND: Liu has only exercised his civil rights. He has not done anything wrong. He must be released.
(Soundbite of applause)
MONTAGNE: And Phil, you're in Oslo, of course. But do you know the reaction from China to this speech?
REEVES: Well, we can be fairly confident that the reaction will be very negative. Jagland was actually arguing in this speech also that to some extent China, with its 1.3 billion people, is carrying what he said was 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 hugely favorable impact, he said. But if not, there's a danger of social and economic crises arising in the country, with negative consequences for us all.
Mr. JAGLAND: 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.
MONTAGNE: And Phil, I gather that he also brought up Martin Luther King and his Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, speaking about a great power, the U.S., and how many Americans at that time weren't very happy about that award.
REEVES: Yes, and Jagland said that, you know, it's clear that America became stronger afterwards, and he said China will also grow stronger if its people are granted civil rights. And there was, you know, a touching moment after his speech. Jagland placed the Nobel Award on the empty chair, and there was more applause when that happened. Then the Norwegian actress, Liv Ullmann, began to read out an address made by Liu. That was quite an emotional moment in this ceremony too. And this was the first time that a laureate under detention hasn't been formally represented since Hitler barred the German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky from attending to pick up his award in 1935.
Liu has dedicated his prize to the lost souls of Tiananmen Square.
MONTAGNE: Phil, thank you very much. NPR's Phillip Reeves, speaking to us from Oslo. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
Unidentified Woman #1: Free (unintelligible) right now.
Unidentified Woman #2: Free Liu Xiaobo now.
REEVES: They ask to hand in a petition which they say carries 100,000 signatures demanding Liu's release from prison. The embassy doesn't want to receive it. China's rapidly growing in economic power and geopolitical muscle. It's hard to believe that protests like this make much difference. Yet John Peder Egenaes from Amnesty International, the human rights group that's organized the demonstration, says they do.
Mr. JOHN PEDER EGENAES (Amnesty International): No, I don't think it's going to change things overnight. But I think if we stop doing this, if we stop protesting, things certainly won't change.
MONTAGNE: OK. And Philip Reeves is there in Oslo for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. Are there going to be more protests, Phil?
REEVES: Yes, a candlelit vigil is planned later today, calling for Liu's release. And also, we're told that there's going to be a pro-China demonstration outside the Norwegian parliament.
MONTAGNE: Thanks very much. NPR's Phil Reeves, who's speaking to us from Oslo, where the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony is taking place.
